Information, classification and contestability: a cultural economics approach to Uber’s entry into the taxi industry

Because of their novelty, the rise of large platform companies, such as Uber, pose a genuine challenge to our attempts to classify and understand economic activities. This article utilises a broad view of cultural economics and subjectivist economic analysis to provide some clarity. We see how econo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Review of Austrian economics Vol. 37; no. 4; pp. 421 - 442
Main Author Evans, Anthony J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Springer US 01.12.2024
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Classification
Competition
Economic analysis
Economics
Economics and Finance
Elimination
History of Economic Thought/Methodology
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Political Science
Public Finance
Rituals
Social construction
Taxicabs
Competition
Platforms
Uber
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Summary:Because of their novelty, the rise of large platform companies, such as Uber, pose a genuine challenge to our attempts to classify and understand economic activities. This article utilises a broad view of cultural economics and subjectivist economic analysis to provide some clarity. We see how economic analysis is capable of dealing with companies that provide information based services, and why such industries are increasingly common. Goods, product categories and consumption rituals are all considered as social constructs, and subject to cultural interpretation. The main implication of this approach is how the prevention of exclusion and the elimination of entry barriers are both related and relevant to the well-functioning of market orders.
ISSN:0889-3047
1573-7128
DOI:10.1007/s11138-023-00624-0