This paper aims to establish a comprehensive and easily operationalizable conceptual framework for explorations of the collaborative economy (CE). While the phenomenon has attracted increasing ...attention among businesses, customers, politicians/regulators, and researchers, a widely accepted conceptualization still does not exist. In the present study the CE accommodates for-profit and/or not-for-profit exchange of products that are: a) temporarily provided to others (i.e. shared) by their owners when the assets are under-utilized; b) shared occasionally i.e. up to a certain extent; c) shared by amateurs/non-professionals when having a professional license is mandatory; and d) shared via on-line platforms. If all the requirements are (simultaneously) fulfilled, shared products embrace both goods and services and sharing providers embrace both individuals (e.g., P2P) and organizations (e.g., B2P). The proposed framework is discussed in the context of the CE key "surrounding" concepts – the on-demand economy, gig economy, second-hand & circular economy, and rental economy.
Digital nomads (DNs) are highly mobile professionals who work while travelling and travel while working. Their lifestyle has gained increasing academic attention, also from a communication ...perspective. Despite initial work on the topic, little is known about the self-presentation practices of DNs on social media. To address this lack of evidence and focusing on Instagram as a key platform for this group, we adopt a Goffmanian perspective. By using semi-structured interviews, we provide an in-depth analysis of their self-presentational practices, specifically their content strategies, imagined audience and use of platform affordances. The interviews included photo elicitation as a central element. The findings show how DNs highlight independence and freedom, de-emphasize work in favour of leisure and travel, develop audience management strategies that are mindful of the imagined audiences’ situation, while trying to foster reliability and authenticity and greatly value the flexibility and ephemerality of the Stories feature.
Rooted in theory of planned behavior (TPB) supplemented with self‐determination theory (SDT), this study explores determinants of willingness to receive and provide resources in Europe's ...non‐remunerated and remunerated collaborative consumption (CC). The exploration was conducted within a single research model by assessing the role of (a) TPB constructs reflecting attitude towards participation in CC, perceived social pressure to engage, and perceived level of difficulty that engagement requires and (b) SDT constructs of environmental, social, and economic motives for participation. The data were collected through an online questionnaire, and the structural relationships were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Willingness to consume in non‐remunerated and remunerated CC was positively directly influenced by social pressure to engage in CC and participation being perceived as pleasant, negatively by the level of difficulty that engagement requires, as well as positively indirectly influenced by environmental concern and sociability. Additionally, environmental concern had positive direct effect on willingness to consume only in the remunerated context. Willingness to provide in non‐remunerated CC was positively directly influenced by perceiving participation as pleasant and indirectly by environmental concern and sociability. Resource provision in remunerated CC was not explained by any of the determinants.
This paper analyses objective and subjective social and economic performance of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) in Croatia, Slovenia, and Italian regions of Lombardy and Trentino. More ...specifically, the main aim is to test: a) the consistency between subjective and objective performance of WISEs and b) the compatibility between their economic and social performance. The rationale of the study is based on the fact that WISEs are commonly labelled as significant socioeconomic actors in Europe that often face various performance-related, i.e. managerial staff shortages. To the best of our knowledge, none of the previous studies have investigated this subject among WISEs in the analysed area. The data was collected using an online administered questionnaire between October 2017 and February 2018. The final sample included 109 organizations (23 organizations from Croatia, 36 from Slovenia, 39 from Lombardy, and 11 from Trentino). Each organization was represented by one highly ranked executive. The objective economic performance indicator was the profit-loss ratio; the objective social performance indicator was the share of disadvantaged population employed at a WISE. The subjective social and economic performance was measured using 18 indicators, and the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed that this type of performance should be regarded as a unidimensional concept. The correlation analysis revealed a positive relationship between objective social performance and subjective socioeconomic performance, which indicates that the applied indicators of subjective socioeconomic performance are also relevant as potential predictors of objective social performance and demonstrates that representatives of WISEs tend to be realistic when evaluating their subjective socioeconomic performance.
Ovaj rad ima za cilj uspostaviti sveobuhvatan i lako
operacionalizirajući konceptualni okvir za istraživanja
ekonomije suradnje. Iako ova ekonomija privlači sve veću
pozornost kompanija, potrošača, ...političara / regulatora i
istraživača, široko prihvaćene konceptualizacije fenomena
još uvijek nema. U ovom članku ekonomija suradnje
obuhvaća profitnu i neprofitnu razmjenu proizvoda koji su:
a) od vlasnika privremeno ustupljeni drugima na upotrebu
(tj. dijeljeni) onda kada su podiskorišteni; b) koji su dijeljeni
sporadično, tj. do određene mjere; c) koji su dijeljeni od
amatera / neprofesionalaca u slučajevima kada je
profesionalna dozvola za to dijeljenje potrebna; i d) koji su
dijeljeni putem online-platformi. Ako su svi ovi uvjeti
(istodobno) ispunjeni, dijeljeni proizvodi obuhvaćaju dobra i
usluge, a djelitelji mogu biti osobe (npr. P2P) i organizacije
(npr. B2P). Predloženi konceptualni okvir raspravljen je u
kontekstu ključnih koncepata "susjedskih" ekonomija
suradnje – ekonomiji na zahtjev, ekonomiji honorarnih
poslova, iz druge ruke i cirkularnoj ekonomiji te rentnoj
ekonomiji.
This paper examines differences in social capital among the Croatian population across areas with different urbanisation levels. Although the analysis of such differences has been a productive ...research topic internationally, no studies in Croatia have aimed for it so far. Following Putnam’s approach, social capital was conceptualised and operationalised by three dimensions: trust in institutions, informal as well as formal social networks, and social (political and civic) participation. The data were gathered in a 2015 survey. A representative multi-stage stratified sample of adults from Croatia was used (N = 1 000). Trust in political and civic institutions was higher in rural than in urban areas. Compared to rural areas and small-to-medium-sized urban settlements, the population of large urban settlements engaged less in informal social networks (contacts with relatives and neighbours). No differences among settlements were found regarding membership in civic associations (formal social networks). The population of small-to-medium-sized cities reported more volunteering activities (political participation) than the residents of rural areas. In terms of political participation, the residents of large cities reported a higher voter turnout than the residents of small-to-medium-sized cities in the last parliamentary elections, as well as a higher voter turnout than the residents of rural areas in the last presidential elections. The findings shed light on topics that need to be examined in Croatia in future research, such as determinants of social capital within areas with a similar level of urbanisation and regional differences in social capital across areas with a high, medium and low level of urbanisation.
Although seemingly paradoxical, it seems that today, in the time when globalization processes of Western civilisation are at their prime, for many people the ideas of security, closeness and ...belonging remained increasingly important. Numerous recent research studies in social sciences speak of the importance of neighbourhood at different levels, and this importance is primarily manifested in the positive influence produced by the satisfaction with the neighbourhood that one lives in. Study of neighbourhood characteristics is very relevant today and in that sense, our research aims to contribute to a better understanding of this complex phenomenon in the context of Croatian society as well. The aim of this research is to gain a basic insight into the perception of the level of social integration in the neighbourhood, and to determine to which extent personal experience of social interaction with those that one shares one's living space with influences the perception of social cohesion in Croatian society. The results of the research have shown that only a smaller number of respondents can brag about living in a harmonious neighbourhood, at which harmonious refers to the achieved level of social integration, while most of them find some elements that point to inadequacies or a complete absence of social integration in their neighbourhood.
Temeljni ciljevi ovog rada jesu: ispitati faktorsku strukturu skale materijalizma, razinu usmjerenosti graana Hrvatske prema materijalizmu, utvrditi hijerarhiju vrijednosti i objasniti povezanost ...vrijednosti i materijalizma uz kontrolu sociodemografskih obiljezja. Istrazivanje je provedeno na reprezentativnom uzorku punoljetnoga stanovnistva (N =1004). Za mjerenje materijalizma upotrijebljena je kratka verzija skale materijalizma (The Material Values Scale, Richins, 2004), a za mjerenje vrijednosti skraceni Upitnik osobnih vrednota, PVQ; Schwartz i sur., 2001). Graanima uglavnom nije vazno posjedovanje i stjecanje materijalnog u smislu glavne preokupacije u zivotu (centralnost) te ne procjenjuju da posjedovanje i stjecanje dobara stvara dozivljaj srece (sreca u posjedovanju). Rezultati nadalje pokazuju da se najveca vaznost pridaje tradiciji, univerzalizmu i dobrohotnosti, dok se najmanja vaznost pridaje poticaju i moci. Sto se tice temeljnih vrijednosti kao mogucih odrednica dimenzija materijalizma, pokazalo se da sa deset vrijednosnih tipova uz kontrolu sociodemografskih obiljezja mozemo objasniti 16% ukupne varijance srece u posjedovanju, kao prve izmjerene dimenzije materijalizma, te 39% ukupne varijance centralnosti, kao druge dimenzije materijalizma.//The aim of this study is to check the factor structure of The Material Values Scale, examine the orientation of Croatian residents towards materialism, examine their basic human value hierarchy, and to identify and explain the relationship between values and materialism with control of sociodemographic characteristics. The survey was carried out on a representative sample of 1004 adult Croatian residents. The short version of The Material Values Scale (MVS) (Richins, 2004) was applied for the materialism examination and the short version of the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ) (Schwartz et al., 2001) was applied for the value examination. The results show that possession and acquisition of goods are mainly not important for Croatian residents in terms of the main preoccupation in life, and, on average, they do not believe that consumption leads to happiness. Croatian residents attribute more importance to tradition, universalism and benevolence and less to stimulation and power. In terms of the relationship between values and materialism, it turned out that ten value types with control of socio-demographic characteristics explain 16% of the total variance of happiness, as a first measured dimension of materialism, and 39% of the total variance of centrality as a second dimension of materialism. Reprinted by permission of Drustvena Istrazivanja
Short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb have enjoyed considerable success in recent years. However, critics accuse the platforms of having negative impacts, leading to gentrification, disruption, ...and increased rent and house prices. While research has investigated actual impacts of short-term rental platforms, we lack systematic, generalizable, and comparative evidence on the perceived impacts of such platforms, especially from a social exchange perspective and on a country level. To address these shortcomings, we conducted a representative survey in the US and UK with a holistic set of perceived impacts. Using social exchange theory (SET) and applying a range of multi-variate statistical analyses, such as exploratory factor analysis, cluster analysis and discriminant analysis, we systematically compare these two contexts. The findings indicate that US residents assess short-term rental platforms more positively than UK residents, especially for recreational, amenities-oriented and economic impacts. Among respondents who have used short-term rental platforms as guests, the perceptions are more alike between the two countries, suggesting a homogenization effect. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the results.
•Short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb have been controversial.•Perceived impacts, as opposed to actual impacts, are neglected in previous research.•Systematically investigates perceived impacts of short-term rental platforms.•Uses a comparative approach with a representative sample for the US and UK.•UK residents see perceived impacts of short-term rental platforms more negatively.
Temeljni cilj ovog rada je sustavan prikaz važnijih obilježja grada u postindustrijsko doba1, tj. važnijih ekonomskih obilježja suvremenog grada. Kritičkim pregledom relevantne literature s područja ...sociologije i urbane geografije kao važnija obilježja grada u postindustrijsko doba izdvojeni su i raspravljeni sljedeći procesi: deindustrijalizacija, tercijarizacija, ekonomska polarizacija stanovništva, rast udjela kućnih proizvodnih pogona i „znojnica“, rast udjela neslužbene ekonomije, gentrifikacija i fleksibilizacija rada. Nadalje, izloženi su suprotstavljeni stavovi, tj. debata istaknutijih istraživača o položaju i ulozi suvremenog grada u proizvodnji (socio)ekonomskog napretka. Nakon što je u industrijsko doba imao ulogu najvažnijeg „inkubatora“ znanja i inovacija, je li ta uloga obilježje grada i u postindustrijsko doba? Postaje li mjesto (eng. place) u doba naprednih informacijsko-komunikacijskih tehnologija sve manje važnim prostorom (eng. space) proizvodnje gospodarskog (i društvenog) napretka? Preuzima li metropolitanska regija od (središnjeg) grada ulogu ishodišta ekonomskog napretka? Rad progovara o ovim, ali i o nekim drugim pitanjima debate. Zaključeno je kako mjesto, tj. grad i dalje ostaje važno ishodište (socio)ekonomskog napretka te kako eventualna dominacija metropolitanske regije nad (središnjim) gradom ne znači da je grad kakvog poznajemo iz industrijskog doba u potpunosti nestao.
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