Governing the sharing economy: Towards a comprehensive analytical framework of municipal governance

The sharing economy is having a transformative impact on our cities, and many municipalities are facing a challenge – how to systematically engage with the sharing economy to both mitigate its negative and enhance its positive impacts. Academic understanding of municipal governance mechanisms of the sharing economy remains poor. To address this gap, we develop a comprehensive analytical framework for municipal governance of the sharing economy, comprising five mechanisms (regulating, providing, enabling, self-governing, collaborating) and eleven roles. We employ a mixed-method approach comprising literature analysis, 139 semi-structured interviews, five workshops, three focus groups, and seven mobile research labs conducted in Amsterdam, Berlin, Gothenburg, London, Malmö, San Francisco and Toronto. We then go on to demonstrate how municipalities have positive and negative interactions with SEOs through various mechanisms. Explaining why municipalities differ in their governance approaches towards SEOs is an important area of future research. The framework contributes to knowledge on municipal governance by offering a holistic classification of mechanisms and roles of municipal governance relating to the sharing economy. In addition to its academic value, the framework has value for urban policy and planning, as it can help municipalities navigate the governance complexity and become more agile when engaging with SEOs.