User:Littlebigd/Crowd-Based Capitalism

Crowd-Based Capitalism or Crowd Capitalism is an emerging economic system characterized by peer to peer exchange and decentralized capital ownership.

Crowd-Based Capitalism is a modern way of organizing economic activity. Unlike Industrial Capitalism where labor is exchanged for a salary from a company or employer, crowds of individuals utilize digital platforms to provide on-demand services to other individuals. These peer to peer exchanges are heavily reliant on trust as well as in-built reputation systems, security measures and review functions implemented by each platform. Crowd-Based Capitalism provides flexible opportunities to generate income but lacks the benefits and financial security of traditional employment.

Overview
Crowd-Based Capitalism competes with centralized institutions such as corporations or governments by providing an alternative to the traditional employer/employee relationship. Instead of large companies employing full time workers, the workers are a “crowd” of diverse individuals who utilize platforms and personal assets to generate income by offering peer to peer services and on-demand labor. A platform aggregates the demand of goods and services, but the supply of capital, assets and labor comes from the individual. The defining feature that distinguishes it from Industrial Capitalism is the decentralization of capital and economic activity and the shift away from traditional institutions that have previously organized economic activity.

Academics have proposed that Crowd Capitalism could be used to create new ventures in the economies of collectivistic cultures, where teamwork and cooperation are already highly valued and could be utilized to increase crowd-managed entrepreneurial activities and economic development.

Related Concepts
The term Crowd-Based Capitalism is often used interchangeably with Sharing Economy. Although the term Sharing Economy is used more widely in media discussion, it falls under the broader umbrella of Crowd-Based Capitalism. Other related concepts include access economy, collaborative economy, platform economy, community-based economy, gig economy, peer-to-peer economy and renting economy.

Crowd-Based Platforms
Crowd-Based Capitalism has become part of the mainstream have been integrated into our everyday lives. According to Financial Journalist Nathan Jaye, “In many industries, the largest company in the sector is likely to be a crowd-based platform."

Accommodation
Airbnb is the world's largest provider of short term accommodation space. Individuals can register as a host and offer their entire home, a room in their house or another form of accommodation for registered guests to stay in for a nightly fee. The platform offers many features and feedback systems to ensure the safety of guests and hosts and to ensure that both parties are trustworthy.

Transportation
Uber is a ridesharing platform available in more than 10,000 cities worldwide. Individuals can either sign up as a rider or a driver; drivers use their personal vehicles to provide transport to riders and riders can request drivers to pick them up and transport them to another location. Uber also has a food delivery service called UberEats where individuals can order food from restaurants and have an Uber driver deliver it to their door

Finance
GoFundMe is a crowdfunding platform that allows individuals to raise funds from "the crowd" for a multitude of diverse causes and goals. From raising business start up costs and equity-based fundraising to emergency financial assistance and donations for medical procedures, crowdfunding helps individuals in need access direct support from those that are willing to help.

Creative Services
Upwork is a freelancing job board platform where individuals and businesses can post one-off projects or contract jobs they need filled by a freelancer. Web developers, designers, writers, marketers and various other creative freelancers can register their profile, submit proposals and apply for jobs listed on the website.

Future Industries
Arun Sundararajan, Author of The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and The Rise of Crowd Based Capitalism [reword as have citation: Sundarajan estimates that ....] believes that in the next 10 years Crowd-Based Capitalism will begin to reshape other industries including Law, Healthcare, Accounting, Public Relations, and potentially solar energy for developing countries.

Trust & Reputation
The popularity of Crowd-Based Capitalism has grown significantly due to the trust infrastructure implemented to enhance and safeguard peer to peer exchange. Platforms have advanced security systems as well as their own reputation and rating systems where one can read about the experiences of others to help inform their choices and allow them to trust strangers.

Flexible Employment Opportunities
Crowd-Based Capitalism provides opportunities for individuals to generate income, create additional sources of income (commonly referred to as a "Side Hustle"), and operate "micro businesses" [see Micro-enterprise] utilizing their existing capabilities and assets. Peer to peer services and short term freelancing provides more flexibility than full time work for a single organization, allowing workers to operate on their own terms and schedule and successfully juggle the commitments that come with modern life. In the case of ride share drivers, they can use their physical assets more efficiently by using them as commercial assets too, by making their personal vehicle a rental vehicle for passengers.

Limited Worker Rights and Protection
In most cases, workers are considered independent contractors rather than employees, therefore they do not have access to employee benefits such as health insurance, sick leave and unemployment insurance programs. Ridesharing platforms such as Uber and Lyft [insert links again] classify themselves as tech platforms rather than transport businesses and therefore sit in a grey area where labor protection laws may not apply to them. However, in the US state of California, this has been ruled as misconduct and these companies will be required to classify drivers as employees, which means that drivers will be entitled to some employee benefits.