Collaborative consumption – New approaches for a collaborative economy

The present study evaluates the ecological and economic impacts of different approaches of the collaborative economy. A diverse range of existing empirical approaches are demonstrated, clustered and evaluated. Detailed scenarios of free-floating car sharing and approaches of communal housing yield data which enable the approaches identified as particularly relevant to be modelled and the economic and environmental impacts to be quantified. Economic modelling shows the value added effects and the employment effects of the scenarios while ecological modelling shows the environmental impacts. Shared usage may lead to additional available income and is thus re-modelled as further environmental impacts of the income rebound effect. Finally, the German Federal Environment Agency’s Methodological Convention (Methodenkonvention 2.0) is used to monetize the environmental impacts in order to analyze the gross added value in the case of a full internalization of the environmental impacts. Last but not least the insights of the analysis will be discussed in the context of political measures and support instruments will be proposed.