1. The collaborative economy and the cooperative model
Jacques Debry

2. The collaborative economy

3. The collaborative economy
Definition
The collaborative economy connects users (individuals or organisations seeking goods or services) with providers (individuals or organisations offering their goods or services). 
L. Jourdan, M. Leclerc, A. Millerand, Economie collaborative & Droit – Les clés pour comprendre, Editions FYP, 2016, p. 17.
Business models where activities are facilitated by collaborative platforms that create an open marketplace for the temporary usage of goods or services often provided by private individuals.  
European Commission (EC): A European agenda for the collaborative economy, COM(2016) 356

4. The collaborative economy
Economic mechanisms
Crowdsourcing
Two-sided Markets
The Long Tail
Matching Markets
Reputation Markets
Network Externalities and Standard Externalities
=> “The winner takes all”  

5. The collaborative economy
Business models
Advertising
Payment per transactions
Subscription
Internal markets and derivatives
Data selling   

6. The collaborative economy in its strictest sense
In its strictest sense, the collaborative economy aims to create an alternative economic model with the following features:
Decentralised and not-hierarchical network (peer-to-peer)
Pooled resources (often underutilised)
Tool: online platform
Goal: to reap the benefits of sharing
Sharing leads to collective environmental benefits
Need for retaining control over the project

7. The collaborative economy in its strictest sense Definition
“The term collaborative economy refers to a broad and varied group of practices and innovative models that use digital technologies to facilitate collaboration and exchange among a community of peers, and to maximize the use of underutilised resources. Collaborative economy models enable the aggregation of peer-to-peer exchanges performed among community members, and turn them into systemic processes of value generation driven by the community and benefiting the community.” 
Cooperatives Europe, A Cooperative Vision for the Collaborative Economy – Shaping a people-centered and democratic collaborative economy, November 2017

8. The collaborative economy in its strictest sense
If a collaborative economy project (in the strictest sense of the term) is to be successful and stay true to its core aims, it must put existing economic mechanisms to good use and adopt a social and solidarity-based business model (i.e. it must reject negative externalities):
Fair pay and working conditions
Consumer protection
Environmental protection
A collaborative economy project (in the strictest sense of the term) is a social and solidarity economy project.
It must be governed in a way that aligns with its purpose at all times.

9. The cooperative model

10. The cooperative model
The cooperative model aims to create an alternative economic model. ICA definition, 1995:
Definition: an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.
Values: self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity.
Ethical values: honesty, openness, social responsibility and altruism.
Principles:
Voluntary and Open Membership
Democratic Member Control
Member Economic Participation
Autonomy and Independence
Education, Training and Information
Cooperation among Cooperatives
Concern for Community

11. the collaborative economy in the strictest sense
Similarities between
the collaborative economy in the strictest sense
and the cooperative model

12. Collaborative economy (strictest sense)
Cooperative model
ICA definition
ICA principles 1 and 2
Community of peers (peer-to-peer) where all parties are equals
Relationship of trust with the community; contractual relationships known in law as intuitu personae
Democratically controlled association of persons
Voluntary, open membership intuitu personae
Members cannot sell their share to a third party without the other members’ consent
Members are free to resign

13. Collaborative economy (strictest sense)
Cooperative model
ICA definition
ICA principle 3
Purpose: to meet needs by pooling resources
Creation of commons
Members form an enterprise to meet their common needs
Collective ownership
Reserves are pooled (indivisible)

14. Collaborative economy (strictest sense)
Cooperative model
ICA definition
The project operates via an online peer-to-peer platform: the entrepreneurial tool that the project needs to achieve its aims
The cooperative sets up an enterprise to serve its members

15. Collaborative economy (strictest sense)
Cooperative model
ICA definition
ICA principle 3
Purpose: participants reap the benefits of sharing
The aim is not to pay dividends to shareholders 
Service, as opposed to profit, motive (cooperatives serve their members rather than investors)
Limited dividends
Pooled reserves
In some cases, surpluses are allocated to members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative

16. Collaborative economy (strictest sense)
Cooperative model
ICA definition
ICA principle 4
Participants want to retain control of their project
Autonomy and independence are vital to cooperative governance

17. Collaborative economy (in the strictest sense of the term)
Cooperative model
ICA principle 7
Participants pool resources, rather than producing and purchasing new goods, in order to protect the environment
Concern for community includes concern for the environment and sustainable development

18. the collaborative economy (strictest sense) and the cooperative model
Differences between
the collaborative economy (strictest sense)
and the cooperative model

19. Collaborative economy (strictest sense)
Cooperative model
Linkages between members and the community 
Community of “prosumers”, “multistakeholder” model
Ongoing trust-building
Informal identity
Informal involvement in governance
Online-only relationships
Typically global purpose
Growth is incremental but can become exponential
Community of like-minded members
Trust from the outset through the act of membership
Shared, documented values
Structured involvement in governance
Face-to-face contact
Typically local purpose
Gradual expansion

20. Collaborative economy (strictest sense)
Cooperative model
Collaboration methods 
Decentralised, dispersed collaboration
Sporadic connections as needs arise, ad hoc relationships
No structured, stable working relationships
Role of technological innovation
It connects participants and allows for quick, decentralised actions
Digital technology at the heart of the business model, constant innovation
Centralised collaboration within the enterprise
Structured connections between members in the same enterprise
Stable, legally structured working relationships
Technological innovation is just one part of the business model
Technological innovation is deployed gradually

21. Conclusions

22. What the collaborative economy can learn from the cooperative model
Collaborative economy projects can use the cooperative model to maintain an entrepreneurial culture that combines the values of performance and solidarity.
Thanks to its governance model and self-regulating properties, the cooperative model can solve many of the problems encountered in the collaborative economy.
In reality, the cooperative model can provide the structure – documented values and governance principles, and markers and codes of conduct – without which collaborative economy projects often fail.

23. What the cooperative movement can learn from the collaborative economy
The collaborative economy is an opportunity for the cooperative movement to expand into every sector of the economy – something it must do as a matter of urgency since for-profit collaborative economy companies have gained a stronghold, or even a monopoly, in some sectors.
The cooperative movement can look to the collaborative economy for regeneration – breaking down barriers, adopting the “multistakeholder” model, gaining flexibility and agility, horizontal vs. vertical structure, technological innovation and digital technologies, etc.

24. NEXT STEPS Initiatives needed at several levels:
Run combined collaborative/cooperative projects
Communicate about the similarities between the collaborative economy and the cooperative model in a meaningful way
Build technical expertise to assist cooperative platform projects
Set up financial structures to support these projects

26. THANK YOU