Mitigating Negative Externalities Through Platform Governance: the Case of a Dock-less Bike Sharing in São Paulo City
Abstract: Urban mobility free-floating sharing services (e.g. cars, bikes, scooters) have recently emerged in several metro cities of the world, providing alternative individual transportation and affecting their citizens’ daily routine. In order to preserve the advantages and the sustainability of this typical self-service, opportunistic behaviors of its users must be constrained and collective actions incentivized. The governance of these services, enabled by new advances in information technology, has made the means available for the implementation of several strategies. But which are the most efficient to mitigate the negative externalities and improve the creation of value for the community of users and the entrepreneur? To answer this question this study analyzes the effects of changes in the rules of use of a dock-less bike sharing service in São Paulo city, Brazil, by adapting the Institutional Analysis Development (IAD) framework. A scientific insight enabled the empirical test of this new service through this traditional analytical tool to explain how its governance is capable of orchestrating exogenous and endogenous factors that influence its economic results. Apart from extending Polycentric Governance scientific practices to this new field of business strategy, this study also provides managerial contributions.
