Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/326865 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
UNU-MERIT Working Papers No. 2023-015
Publisher: 
United Nations University (UNU), Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), Maastricht
Abstract: 
We propose a simple model to study the conditions under which consumers prefer to purchase a good in coalition rather than individually. To identify those conditions, we study the full parameter space that defines the characteristics and preferences of heterogeneous consumers, the characteristics of the good, and the characteristics of a public service that offers the same services as the good. We find that shared ownership emerges only under niche conditions, for relatively lower income consumers with relatively higher demand. Furthermore, shared ownership is more likely to emerge if the shared good is relatively small and can be purchased in small coalition with lower coordination costs. Results are relevant to design sustainable consumption policies as they show that the diffusion of shared goods reduce the net number of goods in an economy, and therefore their environmental impact. However, we do not find any impact of shared ownership in reducing inequality in accessing goods. We show that policies that reduce the relative price of the shared purchase can accelerate the transition to a more sustainable shared consumption.
Subjects: 
Shared ownership
Consumer coalitions
Sustainable consumption
JEL: 
Q57
D81
D85
D91
D12
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-sa Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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