Research On Cooperative Trust In The Sharing Economy

The sharing economy is an economic form derived from the digital age,with collaboration and sharing as its core values.It has not only the economic value of improving the efficiency of resource use,but also the ethical value of building trusting relationships among strangers.By promoting the concepts of cooperation,reciprocity,sharing and collaboration,the sharing economy enhances individuals’ propensity to trust and mutual understanding through the accumulation of positive trust and cooperation experiences,leading people to cross the trust gap in a society of strangers.However,the development of the industry under the logic of capital and instrumental rationality has shattered this beautiful vision and ethical expectations embedded in the sharing economy.The trust relationships established under the rational calculation of interests and tight control systems only have formal universality,but not spiritual universality.Therefore,it is still difficult to overcome the existential anxiety and the spiritual dilemma of modern society in terms of isolation,indifference and mistrust of individuals.Based on this,this study takes the perspective of the historical changes of trust(i.e.,customary trust-contractual trust-cooperative trust)into the study of the sharing economy,not only to address the lack of an ethical perspective in the research on the sharing economy,but also to confront the trust crisis and the real dilemma of the disorderly development of the sharing economy with a problematic perspective.This study aims to introduce cooperative trust into the “instrumental” relationship,to shape the ethical reality and universality of the sharing economy,and thus to promote the construction of macro social trust and a harmonious social order.This study argues that cooperative trust is an important principle of the sharing economy,systematically analyzes the complex trust relationships,analyzes the subjective motives of trust through empirical research,analyses the multiple dilemmas faced in cultivating cooperative trust,and finally explores ways to cultivate cooperative trust.The findings are as follows:The sharing economy is a cooperative organization under the digital technology revolution.Its innovative value lies in realizing the two-way interaction and integration of market and society,the unification of self-interest and altruism,and the realization of large-scale cooperation in a society of strangers with reciprocity as the logic of action.The idea of cooperative trust constructs the sharing economy in its true sense and gives it an ethical essence and spiritual value.Unlike instrumental contractual trust,cooperative trust in the sharing economy is based on free and equal interpersonal relationships,transforming strangers into mutually beneficial strangers.Cooperative trust is a unity of reason and sentiment,a spontaneous trust that is subordinate to substantive rationality.The cooperative trust relationships in the sharing economy exhibit complexity,dynamic change and heterogeneity.First,it exhibits different features in the dimensions of interpersonal trust,organizational trust,technological trust and institutional trust.Second,it shows a positive or negative dynamic evolution process.The initial trust is inseparable from the empowerment of digital technology.The mutual trust is a complex system composed of technological trust,institutional trust,interpersonal trust and organizational trust.Third,it is inherently heterogeneous in terms of social networks.Most sharing economy platforms builds “thin” trust based on weak ties,but “thin” trust can be transformed into “thick” trust that is less susceptible to opportunistic behavior through ongoing interactions.Using sharing accommodation as the typical case,our empirical results show that users’ trust and cooperation in sharing accommodation is dominated by economic and technological motivations,while non-economic motivations such as socio-cultural factors are not significant.It reflects the gap between the idea of cooperative trust and the real trend of “pseudo sharing” towards the utilitarian value orientation.The dilemmas of the cultivation of cooperative trust in the sharing economy include four aspects.First,the fragmentation of existence and the prevalence of moral nihilism under the domination of instrumental rationality hinder the establishment of interpersonal trust.Second,the suppression of ethical logic by capital logic,the immoral behavior of organizations and the lack of organizational ethics undermine organizational trust.Third,the black box of algorithms,the alienation of algorithmic power and the dilemma of algorithmic responsibility led to the dissolution of technological trust.Fourth,the inherent mediocrity and lag of institutions undermine institutional trust.Finally,the failure of traditional trust mechanisms and the transformation of online media influenced social trust.Based on the above analysis,this study explores the ways of cultivating cooperative trust in the sharing economy from five dimensions: individual,organizational,technological,institutional and social.Specifically,the mutual trust among individuals requires the morality of integrity and the humanistic spirit of daring to trust.The pursuit of common values and the corporate social responsibility helps to enhance the ethicality and morality of platform enterprises.The opening of algorithmic black boxes,algorithmic power regulation and distributed moral responsibility contribute to establish technological trust.The improvement of cooperative governance mechanism and government regulatory systems can provide institutional guarantee.Moral education and social credit system construction can enhance social trust.