Fostering the inclusion of women as entrepreneurs in the sharing economy through collaboration: a commons approach using the institutional analysis and development framework

Abstract

With public concerns about fostering the inclusion of women, especially those with low socio-economic status, governments and private entities have started to develop collaborative strategies to improve women’s development. One such strategy is collaborations with sharing economy entities, which are online platforms that provide entrepreneurship opportunities for individuals despite geographical and structural barriers. This paper draws on Ostrom’s concept of the commons to explore how to foster the inclusion of women as entrepreneurs in the sharing economy through collaboration. Thematic analysis reveals the nature and outcomes of policies geared towards women’s development. While previous studies on the sharing economy have noted that the top-down nature of its operations has resulted in individualised gains, this paper highlights the collaboration within these settings – leading to individual and mutual monetary and non-monetary benefits – stemming from a shared digital and traditional commons with context-based ideologies and stakeholder actions. This paper gives practitioners a clear understanding of how they can successfully support and create a context for women’s entrepreneurship in the age of digitisation.

Keywords:

• Airbnb
• commons
• digital entrepreneurship
• sharing economy
• tourism collaboration
• women entrepreneurship

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Abbie-Gayle Johnson

Abbie-Gayle Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Tourism at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research interests are in smart tourism, destination management, sharing economy and value co-creation. She is the corresponding author and can be contacted at [email protected].

Bijal Mehta

Bijal Mehta is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Ahmedabad University. She has research interests in the services sector, digital communication, sharing economy as well as women in entrepreneurship and their use of digital tools for business. She can be contacted at [email protected].