About
Experience & Education
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New York University
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Volunteer Experience
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Sharing Economy Advisory Group
City of Seoul
- Present 8 years 6 months
Politics
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Publications
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London’s Uber ban is a message to a reckless tech ethos
The Guardian
See publicationThe ruling was an indictment of Uber the company rather than the broader ride-hailing concept or labour model, and judges the embattled platform on a tumultuous past rather than its promise of new beginnings. Convincing London that Uber is deserving of the public trust will be a critical test of whether its new leadership can navigate the company beyond the stormy waters weathered over the past few months.
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Will the On-Demand Economy Raise Global Living Standards?
World Economic Forum
See publicationThe global workforce has begun a significant shift towards digitally enabled flexible forms of employment. I discuss how this might affect wages and equality, then outline three factors that are central to whether the long-run impacts will be positive.
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A Safety Net Fit for the Sharing Economy
The Financial Times
See publicationI argue that the true instigator of the unfolding labor conflicts of the sharing economy is the imposition of a 20th century work classification system onto a 21st century economy. A massive digital transformation of our workforce is underway, one that will accelerate the ongoing "unbundling" of employment. We need labor policy that anticipates this ongoing transition, moves past the false dichotomy of “employee” and “independent contractor,” decouples the social safety net from full-time…
I argue that the true instigator of the unfolding labor conflicts of the sharing economy is the imposition of a 20th century work classification system onto a 21st century economy. A massive digital transformation of our workforce is underway, one that will accelerate the ongoing "unbundling" of employment. We need labor policy that anticipates this ongoing transition, moves past the false dichotomy of “employee” and “independent contractor,” decouples the social safety net from full-time employment, and better supports our emerging networked society of micro-entrepreneurs
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Airbnb is an Ally to Cities, Not an Adversary
The New York Times
See publicationI argue how restrictions on platforms like Airbnb cannot by itself address urban housing shortages in cities like NY and SF, whatever form the regulation might take. It is critical that city governments treat platforms like Airbnb as partners in finding new regulatory solutions, rather than casting them as the protagonists in conflicts between existing regulations and the new commercial behaviors they enable.
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Self-Regulation and Innovation in the Peer-to-Peer Sharing Economy
University of Chicago Law Review
See publicationPeer-to-peer and crowd-based economic activity is redefining the regulatory landscape. This essay argues that self-regulatory organizations (SROs) and 'regulating through data' are a critical part of the future solution, and provides four likely characteristics of successful SROs for the sharing economy. It examines forms of market failure in peer-to-peer, how platforms like Uber, Lyft, Airbnb and Getaround mitigate some forms, analyzes the emergence of self-regulation through guilds and…
Peer-to-peer and crowd-based economic activity is redefining the regulatory landscape. This essay argues that self-regulatory organizations (SROs) and 'regulating through data' are a critical part of the future solution, and provides four likely characteristics of successful SROs for the sharing economy. It examines forms of market failure in peer-to-peer, how platforms like Uber, Lyft, Airbnb and Getaround mitigate some forms, analyzes the emergence of self-regulation through guilds and governing the commons and provides examples of SRO success and failure (nuclear power, FINRA, and more) to make its arguments.
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What Airbnb Gets About Culture that Uber Doesn't
Harvard Business Review
See publicationAirbnb and Uber are together inventing a new organizational form: platforms that are firm-market hybrids, supplying branded service offerings without actually employing the providers or owning the assets used in provision. Crucial to their long-run success could be creating an appropriate platform culture — shared norms, values and capabilities among the providers. The fact that these two market leaders are using such different approaches provides a useful testing ground for what works and what…
Airbnb and Uber are together inventing a new organizational form: platforms that are firm-market hybrids, supplying branded service offerings without actually employing the providers or owning the assets used in provision. Crucial to their long-run success could be creating an appropriate platform culture — shared norms, values and capabilities among the providers. The fact that these two market leaders are using such different approaches provides a useful testing ground for what works and what doesn’t.
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The new "New Deal"? Sharing Responsibility in the Sharing Economy
Policy Network
See publicationNew peer-to-peer ‘sharing’ platforms have the potential to boost living standards across the many countries which they span. But as the boundaries between the personal and commercial blur, these radical innovations can also undermine hard-fought consumer and employee protections. Governments and the market need to share responsibility for developing a new social safety net. Peer-to-peer platforms in particular have both a moral and a business imperative to protect the providers and consumers of…
New peer-to-peer ‘sharing’ platforms have the potential to boost living standards across the many countries which they span. But as the boundaries between the personal and commercial blur, these radical innovations can also undermine hard-fought consumer and employee protections. Governments and the market need to share responsibility for developing a new social safety net. Peer-to-peer platforms in particular have both a moral and a business imperative to protect the providers and consumers of their services
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Les nouvelles institutions économiques du XXIe siècle
Le Monde
See publicationL’émergence de ces nouveaux systèmes de fourniture ouverts a suscité un débat autour de leur structure de propriété : société par actions ou coopérative ouvrière ? Cette question constitue un défi particulièrement difficile pour les marchés qui ont émergé à partir du souhait commun des prestataires d’être plus responsables socialement et de parvenir à une plus grande soutenabilité de leurs modèles commerciaux. Y répondre nécessite de bien prendre en considération la redistribution de la valeur…
L’émergence de ces nouveaux systèmes de fourniture ouverts a suscité un débat autour de leur structure de propriété : société par actions ou coopérative ouvrière ? Cette question constitue un défi particulièrement difficile pour les marchés qui ont émergé à partir du souhait commun des prestataires d’être plus responsables socialement et de parvenir à une plus grande soutenabilité de leurs modèles commerciaux. Y répondre nécessite de bien prendre en considération la redistribution de la valeur à tous les niveaux du système pratiqué par ces plates-formes, et de ne pas se concentrer uniquement sur la structure de propriété des plates-formes elles-mêmes.
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Trusting the Sharing Economy to Regulate Itself
The New York Times
See publicationThere’s a real danger that today’s misalignment between newer peer-to-peer business models and older regulations will impede economic growth. The solution is to delegate more regulatory responsibility to the marketplaces and platforms while preserving some government oversight, by creating new self-regulatory organizations like those that have succeeded in other markets and industries.
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Digital Access, Political Networks and the Diffusion of Democracy
Social Networks
We examine the effects of digital access on the prevalence of democracy and its diffusion via trade, geographical and migration networks across 189 countries between 2000 and 2010. We find that different digital technologies may have varying impacts on freedom while affecting its diffusion via different political networks, and that related changes in civil liberties can be affected by both media freedom and internal political institutions. Our analysis suggests three key mechanisms linking…
We examine the effects of digital access on the prevalence of democracy and its diffusion via trade, geographical and migration networks across 189 countries between 2000 and 2010. We find that different digital technologies may have varying impacts on freedom while affecting its diffusion via different political networks, and that related changes in civil liberties can be affected by both media freedom and internal political institutions. Our analysis suggests three key mechanisms linking information technology with democratic change and highlights the importance of a country's “susceptibility” to political influence that is triggered by greater digitally induced visibility.
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Why The Government Doesn't Need To Regulate the Sharing Economy
Wired
See publicationMy 2012 Wired op-ed about (not) regulating Airbnb, Uber and others in the sharing economy. My main argument isn't simply "government regulation is bad" (headlines are always stark) but that the need for it reduces as reputation systems create digital institutions that play the same role regulators used to. Also has fun references to medieval trade and the Maghribi traders, if you like that kind of stuff.
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How Facebook Can Still Rule the Internet Economy
Bloomberg
See publicationWhile Facebook may have gone public too early and at too rich a valuation, the fundamentals still look good. More than any other company, it is positioned to radically expand digital marketing, moving us from today’s narrow, intent-based approach to a broader and more familiar persuasion-based model. For that to happen, it needs to embrace a strategy that plays to its strengths and unique position at the center of today’s Internet. It must reinvent rather than replicate.
Patents
Organizations
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American Academy of Arts and Sciences
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American Economic Association
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INFORMS
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