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Bicycle sharing : Sustainable value creation and institutionalisation strategies in Barcelona

Winslow, Julia and Mont, Oksana LU (2019) In Sustainability (Switzerland) 11(3).
Abstract

A highly debatable issue is whether or not a paradigm shift toward the sharing economy could help to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of our time. This article contributes to the academic discussion by exploring the types of value created by sharing organisations and the strategies they use to institutionalise themselves in relation to powerful institutions. The study applies two analytical frameworks, based on value creation and institutional strategies, to three empirical case studies of bicycle sharing systems (BSS) in Barcelona. Rich data was collected from a variety of primary and secondary sources, including a field visit to Barcelona, interviews with representatives of the three bicycle sharing systems,... (More)

A highly debatable issue is whether or not a paradigm shift toward the sharing economy could help to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of our time. This article contributes to the academic discussion by exploring the types of value created by sharing organisations and the strategies they use to institutionalise themselves in relation to powerful institutions. The study applies two analytical frameworks, based on value creation and institutional strategies, to three empirical case studies of bicycle sharing systems (BSS) in Barcelona. Rich data was collected from a variety of primary and secondary sources, including a field visit to Barcelona, interviews with representatives of the three bicycle sharing systems, observations and literature analysis. We found that the environmental value these organisations create is closely interlinked with the social value they produce and that these values outweigh negative impacts of their operations. All case organisations employ regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive strategies for their institutionalisation but are also subject to powerful institutions beyond their individual control. We recommend that entrepreneurs, city officials, the public and other stakeholders engage in collaborative and open development processes to shape the emerging sharing economy alongside the institutional work of sharing organisations.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Bicycle sharing systems, Business models, Economic and social sustainability, Environmental, Institutionalisation strategies, Value creation
in
Sustainability (Switzerland)
volume
11
issue
3
article number
728
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85060933260
ISSN
2071-1050
DOI
10.3390/su11030728
project
Urban Reconomy: sharing for circular resource efficiency
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b0957a43-8ed9-46c6-9682-91ff3c9fd7e7
date added to LUP
2019-02-12 09:03:44
date last changed
2022-04-25 21:00:04
@article{b0957a43-8ed9-46c6-9682-91ff3c9fd7e7,
  abstract     = {{<p>A highly debatable issue is whether or not a paradigm shift toward the sharing economy could help to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of our time. This article contributes to the academic discussion by exploring the types of value created by sharing organisations and the strategies they use to institutionalise themselves in relation to powerful institutions. The study applies two analytical frameworks, based on value creation and institutional strategies, to three empirical case studies of bicycle sharing systems (BSS) in Barcelona. Rich data was collected from a variety of primary and secondary sources, including a field visit to Barcelona, interviews with representatives of the three bicycle sharing systems, observations and literature analysis. We found that the environmental value these organisations create is closely interlinked with the social value they produce and that these values outweigh negative impacts of their operations. All case organisations employ regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive strategies for their institutionalisation but are also subject to powerful institutions beyond their individual control. We recommend that entrepreneurs, city officials, the public and other stakeholders engage in collaborative and open development processes to shape the emerging sharing economy alongside the institutional work of sharing organisations.</p>}},
  author       = {{Winslow, Julia and Mont, Oksana}},
  issn         = {{2071-1050}},
  keywords     = {{Bicycle sharing systems; Business models; Economic and social sustainability; Environmental; Institutionalisation strategies; Value creation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Sustainability (Switzerland)}},
  title        = {{Bicycle sharing : Sustainable value creation and institutionalisation strategies in Barcelona}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11030728}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/su11030728}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}