Research on the Business Model of Sharing Economy Unicorn Enterprises in Emerging Economies--Based on fsQCA Method

Abstract

With the continuous deepening of the development of the sharing economy, the way of resource allocation of companies, innovative and entrepreneurial activities, consumers' consumption habits and social behaviours are undergoing a profound change. The academic and business circles have a strong interest in how the sharing economy has exerted such a huge effect. In practice, a number of unicorn companies in sharing economy have emerged explosively in China and have quickly become leaders in related industries. Why did these companies have explosive growth? What are the characteristics of the business model behind them? What are the differences in the driving logic of sharing economy companies with different business models? This research uses the method of qualitative comparative analysis (FSQCA) to analyse the business models of 26 unicorn companies of sharing economy in China, and have obtained four typical business model configurations of sharing economy unicorn companies, i.e., the platform transaction type, technology-mission promotion type, capital promotion type and interpersonal interaction type, respectively, and their characteristics and underlying driving logic are illustrated.