Sharing: Post-Scarcity Beyond Capitalism?

David, M.

doi:10.1093/cjres/rsx003

Sharing: Post-Scarcity Beyond Capitalism?

David, M.

Authors

Dr Matthew David matthew.david@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Abstract

Regarding efficiency, efficacy and incentive, free-sharing online (of recordings, live broadcasts, software and published works) outperforms market and property systems by reducing costs of production and distribution, increasing quality and access and better promoting creativity. Free-sharing online emerged within “global network capitalism” and non-capitalist networks. Free-sharing of purely informational content online challenges capitalism by eliminating scarcity. However, post-scarcity is limited by constraints on time and the capacity to filter digital plenitude. These limits create scope for alternative business models. Free-sharing online tempers capitalism’s “tragedy of the anticommons”. However, to date, post-scarcity remains incomplete.

Citation

David, M. (2017). Sharing: Post-Scarcity Beyond Capitalism?. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 10(2), 311-325. https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsx003

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	May 12, 2016
Online Publication Date	Feb 14, 2017
Publication Date	Feb 14, 2017
Deposit Date	Jul 26, 2016
Publicly Available Date	Feb 14, 2019
Journal	Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society
Print ISSN	1752-1378
Electronic ISSN	1752-1386
Publisher	Cambridge Political Economy Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	10
Issue	2
Pages	311-325
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsx003

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Copyright Statement
This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Cambridge journal of regions, economy and society following peer review. The version of record David, M. (2017). Sharing: Post-Scarcity Beyond Capitalism? Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society. is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsx003