By Rob Lever

∷李殊 選 祝平 注

W ant to make a bit of extra cash driving strangers around in your car, taking care of someone’s dog, renting your apartment or cooking a meal?Welcome to the sharing economy.

With Internet-based apps and services like Uber, Airbnb and others,1Uber： 一個提供私家車打車服務(wù)的應(yīng)用程序； Airbnb： 是一個旅行房屋租賃網(wǎng)站，用戶可通過網(wǎng)絡(luò)或手機應(yīng)用程序發(fā)布、搜索度假房屋租賃信息并完成在線預(yù)訂。you make money, and the consumer saves. So it’s a win-win? That’s the multibillion-dollar question.

The new way of operating has been reshaping entire economic sectors, with the promise2promise： （有）可能，（有）希望。of improved efficiency and more flexibility.

The spectacular rise of ride-sharing, home-sharing and other services turned these economic models upside down, and has fueled complaints that these services effectively skirt rules on safety, consumer protection and labor rights.3“合乘”和“合居”以及其他類似服務(wù)的神速發(fā)展顛覆了這些經(jīng)濟模式，同時引發(fā)了就此類服務(wù)規(guī)避了有關(guān)安全、消費者保護和勞動者權(quán)益方面的法規(guī)的投訴。spectacular： 壯觀的，驚人的；fuel： 激起；skirt： 繞過，回避。

想通過用私家車搭載路人來賺些零花錢嗎？想利用空閑時間臨時照管他人的寵物來補貼家用嗎？不僅是出租房屋和車輛，人們試圖出租的還包括辦公場所、電鉆、割草機等閑置資產(chǎn)。人們甚至還出售自己的時間，做一些送取物品或組裝家具的雜活。近年來，這股“分享經(jīng)濟”的浪潮早已席卷美國。出門不住酒店，而是通過Airbnb預(yù)訂或出租閑置的房屋；出行不開車，而是通過Uber訂一輛出租車。

Some economists say this “peer-to-peer” model offers numerous advantages by tapping underutilized resources.4peer-to-peer： 個人對個人；tap： 開發(fā)，挖掘；underutilized： 未充分利用的。

The sharing economy “can improve consumer welfare by offering new innovations, more choices, more service differentiation,5consumer welfare： 消費者福利；service differentiation： 服務(wù)差異化。better prices and higher quality services,” says a study by George Mason University economists.

Researcher Christopher Koopman, an author of the George Mason report, said the sharing economy “allows people to take idle capital and turn them into revenue sources.”6idle： 閑置的；capital： 資本；revenue： 收益。

“People are taking spare bedroom, cars, tools they are not using and becoming their own entrepreneurs7entrepreneur： 企業(yè)家，中間商。.”

There is no of ficial de finition of the sharing economy. Some include online delivery services like Instacart and Postmates; neighbor-sharing platforms like Peerby; pet-sitting service DogVacay; and the restroom service Airpnp.8Instacart： 一個移動購物平臺，可提供商品“一小時送達”服務(wù)；Postmates：一家在線按需快遞服務(wù)公司，可提供快速、高效的商品送貨上門服務(wù)；Peerby： 一個與鄰居分享閑置物品的平臺，讓東西物盡其用；pet-sitting：照看寵物；DogVacay： 一款為自家的寵物犬尋找短期寄養(yǎng)、看護等服務(wù)的應(yīng)用；Airpnp： 一款解決如廁難題的應(yīng)用，能讓用戶把自家?guī)峁┙o內(nèi)急的人，同時賺取零錢。

The research firm PwC estimates that five sharing economy segments— finance, online staf fing, accommodation, car sharing and music or video streaming9PwC： 全稱為Price waterhouse Coopers，普華永道會計師事務(wù)所，全球頂級的會計師事務(wù)所之一；online staf fing： 在線人員配置；accomodation：（度假或旅行時的）住處；music or video streaming： 音樂流或視頻數(shù)據(jù)流?！猚ould be worth $335 billion by 2025, up from just $15 billion today.

“The sharing economy will be part of the overall economy going forward,” said technology strategist Mary Jesse in a blog post.10strategist： 戰(zhàn)略家；blog post： 博客帖子。

“Some industries—like taxi services in transportation and B&B rentals in travel—will be completely transformed, while others, such as financial services, will be only peripherally impacted.11B&B rental： Bed and Breakfast，簡稱B&B，是國外的一種經(jīng)濟型酒店，B&B rental指經(jīng)濟型酒店租賃；peripherally：次要地。This is part of the ‘technology revolution,’ as well as a new norm12norm： 標準，規(guī)范。.”

Arun Sundararajan, a New York University economist who studies the sharing economy, told a January congressional hearing that “this transition will have a positive impact on economic growth and welfare, by stimulating new consumption, by raising productivity, and by catalyzing individual innovation and entrepreneurship.”13congressional hearing： 國會聽證會；stimulate： 激勵，鼓舞；catalyze： 刺激，催化；entrepreneurship： 創(chuàng)業(yè)。

Innovation or rule-bending14 rule-bending： 打破常規(guī)。?

Uber is the best known platform in the sharing economy, having reached a valuation of $40 billion while expanding to more than 200 cities in 54 countries.

But Uber and similar services like Lyft and Sidecar have fueled heated protests from taxi drivers, who complain that the new entrants don’t have to meet the same requirements for licensing, safety and insurance, making the competition unfair.15但是Uber和Lyft、Sidecar等同類服務(wù)使得出租車司機們的抗議升級，他們抱怨這些行業(yè)內(nèi)新闖入的“不速之客”們在獲得執(zhí)照和安全性以及保險方面得到特別待遇，這使競爭變得不公平。new entrant： 新進入者。

Airbnb, the leading online platform for peer-to-peer lodging, has sparked similar complaints from the hotel sector.16lodging： 房屋出租；spark： 發(fā)動，引發(fā)。Responding to complaints, the San Francisco startup17startup： 創(chuàng)業(yè)，啟動，這里指新創(chuàng)公司。recently expanded efforts to collect lodging taxes in some locations.

Other services in the sharing economy include “Feastly,”which allows individuals to cook meals for customers; Vinted,a marketplace for unwanted clothing; and Lending Club, one of several platforms for peer-to-peer loans.

Dean Baker, an economist of the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, said these players can thrive largely because they don’t play by the same rules as incumbents.18thrive： 興旺，旺盛； incumbent：現(xiàn)任者。

Jobs or not?

From the labor perspective, the new digital platforms are touted19be touted as： 被吹噓成……。as ways to encourage more people to become entrepreneurs.

A study commissioned20commission： 委托做（某事）。by Uber and led by Princeton University economist Alan Kreugerwhich surveyed US drivers for Uber found they earned above-average wages and were generally satis fied with the arrangement.

The study found Uber drivers earned around $6 per hour more than traditional taxi drivers, but noted that comparison is dif ficult because Uber drivers must pay certain expenses.

Baker says this arrangement “is great for people to have an option to work in their spare time and make extra money,” but that it still lacks the bene fits of full-time employment.

“What happens when someone has an accident?Do they have workers’ insurance?” he said.

Baker said imposing regulations and costs on sharing economy firms could hurt their pro fitability but would level the playing field.21impose： 實施，推行；level the playing field： 創(chuàng)造平等競爭環(huán)境。

“These companies are going to have a choice where they have to get serious about accepting reasonable regulation or they will be chased out of22chase out of： 將……從……中趕出去。business,” he said.

Koopman argues however that “a lot of these regulations that have been on the books for decades are no longer serving consumer needs and are just protecting industries from competition.”

He maintains that as these activities grow, “there will be a new generation of people who are looking to the sharing economy both from the consumer and the producer side. And governments are ultimately23ultimately： 最后，最終。going to have to respond.”