Coworking — A New Entrepreneurship Model in the Sharing Economy

Abstract

The starting point for the considerations contained in the article is ‘the sharing economy’ as a new business model. It modifies the way resources are used. Nowadays, possession of resources loses its significance at the expense of their temporary accessibility. In this context, resources can be numerous: time, skills, cars, bicycles, living and office space, just to name a few. In the last case, sharing is referred to as ‘coworking’. It is identified with the new work culture, which enables freelancers and other people working remotely to concentrate in a shared office space. The research hypothesis concerns differences in the functioning of coworking spaces depending on the location. These spaces can be found not only in large cities but more often in small towns and rural areas. Their offer and way of functioning significantly differ. The purpose of the article is to present the essence of coworking and the differences arising from the functioning of coworking spaces in large cities as well as in small towns and rural areas. The article uses employs such research methods as literature studies and case studies from the USA, Italy, Ireland, Serbia and Poland. Literature studies were used to present the idea of coworking, its benefits and users. It was also indicated that coworking spaces bring added value in the form of such values as, among others, community, openness, and cooperation. Analysis of case studies has shown that examples of coworking derived from small towns and rural areas, unlike the ones in agglomerations, arise as a result of grass-roots initiatives, they are not of a commercial nature, and their survival is very precarious. Even though their offer is much more modest than that of network ones from large cities, they use their potential. It can be presumed that the level of relations between coworking participants (mutual assistance, cooperation, trust) is inversely proportional to the size of the city/rural area. This is a contribution to further in-depth research on the features of coworking spaces.