Digitally enabled sharing economy models at the base of the pyramid

Abstract

The digitally enabled sharing economy, a system where underutilised assets or services are exchanged via digital platforms, offers unique opportunities for value creation at the base of the pyramid (BoP)1 (Qureshi, Bhatt, & Shukla, 2021b). When leveraged effectively, sharing economy models (SEM) can bring hope for a more inclusive and sustainable economic future. Leveraging digital technologies, it is claimed, facilitates the efficient redistribution of resources, ensuring that even those with limited means can access goods and services that were previously out of reach. Optimising the use of idle assets not only maximises economic benefits for participants but also, it is argued, fosters community engagement and social cohesion. Additionally, SEM have the potential to promote inclusivity and sustainability by providing marginalised communities with avenues for income generation, resource sharing and enhanced social capital. The integration of digital platforms with SEM ensures wider reach and accessibility, making it a powerful tool for addressing economic disparities and driving positive social change if implemented by social intermediaries (Pillai, Shukla, & Qureshi, 2021).

Recent studies have documented numerous digitally enabled sharing economy models (DESEM) at the BoP, which help offer a range of products and services, including transportation (e.g., SafeBoda, Eva.coop), accommodation (e.g., Fairbnb, CoAbode), innovative coworking spaces (e.g., Impact Hub), shared farming (e.g., Farmizen), agricultural equipment (e.g. EM3, Hello Tractor), trading (e.g., Ethitrade), financial services (e.g., FarmDrive, Rang De), communal sharing (e.g., Moving Feast, bHive) and sharing channels for agricultural produce (MIRI Haat, Loop) (Qureshi, Bhatt, & Shukla, 2021a).

DESEM has the potential to address grand societal challenges such as poverty, marginalisation, inequality, discrimination, hunger and greenhouse gas emissions that often characterise the BoP population. However, scholars have also documented the dark sides of DESEM, where discrimination, exploitation and social exclusion can be reproduced and nurtured (Mosaad et al., 2023; Qureshi, Bhatt, & Shukla, 2021c). Despite its relevance, DESEM has not been adequately explored in existing research. SEM at the BoP can be understood through three dimensions: scope of sharing, possibility of socialisation and degree of social intermediation (Qureshi, Bhatt, & Shukla, 2021b). The synergistic integration of digital technologies with these dimensions has the potential to increase the access and reach of DESEM. The configurations of SEM across these dimensions and their alignment with digital technologies, such as digital platform characteristics, have significant implications for social, economic and environmental value creation (Figure 1).

The paper included in this special issue provides critical insights into the uncertainty and trust issues in DESEM, which can deter wider participation in such models at the BoP. Cheng et al. (2025) argue that the low income and literacy of BoP participants (drivers) exacerbate their susceptibility to uncertainties and lack of trust in the ridesharing economy, and lower their engagement in ridesharing over time. Leveraging uncertainty reduction theory, the authors explore the mechanisms for mitigating BoP drivers' uncertainty and fostering trust in the ridesharing platforms. They identify three tiers of uncertainty: trust in passengers, trust in ridesharing platforms and the effectiveness of ridesharing institutional mechanisms. Utilising a sequential, multi-study, triangulated mixed-method research design, the authors find that perceived empathy and information congruity increase BoP drivers' trust in passengers, while effective escrow services, perceived justice and matching accuracy enhance their trust in ridesharing platforms. High privacy control further boosts this trust, encouraging more engagement with the platforms. Additionally, reducing uncertainty through trust in passengers, ridesharing platforms and effective institutional mechanisms enhances driver engagement. Follow-up interviews corroborate these quantitative results. This study extends DESEM literature by exploring BoP drivers' perceptions and behaviours, emphasising the role of aligning digital platform characteristics like escrow services, matching accuracy and privacy control with SEM dimensions to mitigate negative impacts and boost engagement. Future research should explore enhancing these characteristics to further improve platform alignment with SEM dimensions.