Blockchain and Value Systems in the Sharing Economy: The Illustrative Case of Backfeed

Alex Pazaitis, Primavera De Filippi and Vasilis Kostakis

The Other Canon Foundation and Tallinn University of Technology Working Papers in Technology Governance and Economic Dynamics from TUT Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance

Abstract: This article explores the potential of the blockchain technology in enabling a new system of value that will better support the dynamics of social sharing. Our study begins with a discussion of the evolution of value perceptions in the history of economic thought. Starting with a view on value as a mechanism that defines meaningful action within a certain context, we associate the price system with the establishment of capitalism and the industrial economy. We then discuss its relevance to the information economy, exhibited as the techno-economic context of the sharing economy, and identify new modalities of value creation that better reflect the social relations of sharing. Through the illustrative case of Backfeed, a new system of value is envisioned, comprised of three layers: (a) production of value; (b) record of value; and (c) actualisation of value. In this framework, we discuss the solutions featured by Backfeed and demonstrate a conceptual economic model of blockchain-based decentralised cooperation. We conclude that the blockchain technology has the potential to enable the creation of commons-oriented ecosystems in a sharing economy.

Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2017-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pay
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (78)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hum.ttu.ee/wp/paper73.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tth:wpaper:73

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in The Other Canon Foundation and Tallinn University of Technology Working Papers in Technology Governance and Economic Dynamics from TUT Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Shobhit Shakya ().