Sharing economy services as human-machine networks: implications for policy making

The emerging sharing economy has important policy implications. To strengthen the basis for policy making, we present an interview study involving sharing economy service owners, policy maker representatives, and research experts. Here, we analyse sharing economy services as human-machine networks, with particular attention to the networked actors and the relations between these, as well as the extent and structure of the sharing economy networks. The study illuminates key challenges and goals for sharing economy services from the perspective of service owners. Implications for policy making are discussed in terms of government regulation as well as self-imposed policies within and across sharing economy service providers.