Hristo Prodanov
Papers of BAS, Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 3, No 2, 2016
ECONOMICS
THE FORTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE SHARING ECONOMY
Hristo Prodanov
Abstract: The main topic of the article is a new phenomenon, called “sharing economy” result of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The traditional trade networks in this economy are replaced by internet platforms, through which the individual consumers and producers of goods and services can directly connect to each other. The different definitions of the sharing economy are associated with terms like “collaborative economy”, “cooperation economy”, “on-demand economy”, “collaborative consumption”, “platform economy”, etc. The sharing economy undermines the known economic system through technological innovations, value changes, new economic realities, ecological consequences. An attempt is made in the article to outline the main characteristics of the sharing economy.
Key Words: Fourth Industrial Revolution, platform economy, sharing economy, collaborative economy, cooperation economy