Purpose The paper aims to discuss the so-called sharing economy from a business modeling and industrial structure perspective. The illustrative cases examined are Airbnb and Uber. The research question raised is concerned with the extent to which transaction cost theory can be used to explain the changing industrial structures in the application areas that the Internet-based platforms are addressing and how other theoretical frameworks can be helpful in understanding these developments. Design/methodology/approach As the sharing economy topic is relatively new, the paper takes its point of departure in a brief overview of the different issues discussed in the academic literature and the press regarding this emerging phenomenon. The paper presents relevant theoretical approaches to analyzing business models of sharing platforms and industrial structure implications. It, thereafter, presents the cases of Airbnb and Uber to discuss the relevance of the theories put forward. Findings The paper concludes by proposing a theoretical framework for analyzing the structural implications of the sharing economy based on theories on multi-sided platforms, transaction costs and substitution and complementation. Research limitations/implications The research implications are to establish a comprehensive theory framework for analyzing the development of commercial sharing platforms. Originality/value The originality and value of the paper is related to the novelty of topic and the development of a theory framework for analyzing the business models of commercial sharing platforms. Only little has been written from an academic analytical perspective on the sharing economy, and there is a need for developing a coherent framework for analyzing these developments.

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Poland joined the EU in 2004 and still has one of the Europe's least developed information societies. Broadband penetration in Poland is still amongst the lowest in the EU and significantly below the EU average.Considering the present state of information technology, the key challenge for Poland is to reduce the gap between Poland and other EU Member Countries in the area of the development and implementation of information and communication technologies. However, Poland's accession to the European Union and the implementation of EU regulation mechanisms accelerate the integration of Poland's telecommunications market with the European market. The market reflects all the global trends, a gradually growing significance of mobile telecommunications services, broadband Internet access, construction of offers directed towards clients' needs, and a strong trend towards market consolidation, which will gradually change the previous balance of power.The specific problem of the Polish market is its very poor infrastructure development and the lack of competitors on the fixed market. This translates into limited access to services for end users particularly in the rural areas. A much lower level of telecommunications network development in Poland than other countries in the European Union is the reason that the circumstances and also the effects of the implementation of some solutions of the EU regulation model are different in Poland than in the most developed EU countries.The aim of the paper is to examine and discuss broadband access development in Poland and the policy factors influencing this development as well as to examine national strategies used to stimulate service and infrastructure competition in Poland. There are, indeed, many other factors affecting broadband development such as the income level/distribution in the country and the infrastructural point of departure. The paper, therefore, analyses the implications of the policy initiatives in light of these basic conditions and the broader context of factors influencing broadband development.In the paper, different kinds of policy initiatives are examined -with the 'lightest'forms of intervention first and the 'strongest'at the end. Furthermore, empirical evidence on the developments in access technologies and the policy initiatives taken by the Polish government are presented. Finally, there is a conclusion regarding the importance of the different types of public policy initiatives for broadband take-up in Poland.

ICT platforms mediating in the labor area build on labor markets with people being under-employed and/or part-time employed. The extent to which such platforms currently contribute to the general trends in part-time or self-employment can be difficult to assess, as the figures presently are relatively small in the large picture. But there can hardly be any doubt that these ICT platforms in the longer run will reinforce trends towards part-time employment and, at any rate, unstable work and work conditions.

This paper examines current business applications of blockchain technology and discusses blockchain implications for transaction costs. Blockchains are a relatively new set of technologies that can be used for various business purposes, primarily activities related to contracting. Transaction costs comprise the operational costs of contacting (searching and communicating) as well as the costs of contracting (writing and enforcing contracts), and blockchains can be used to lower, first and foremost, the costs of writing and enforcing contracts. Other technology applications that have been investigated to a larger extent, such as multi-sided platforms, primarily help in lowering the costs of searching and communicating, while blockchains can contribute to lowering the costs of contracting.