The Battle of Institutions: Digital and Institutional Disruption in the Transformational Sharing Economy

The sharing economy initially aimed to disrupt traditional financial and ownership business models by creating a new operating logic. However, it has since evolved to resemble the very institutions it sought to challenge. This paper examines the transformation of the sharing economy through the lens of institutionalization, focusing on how its business models have transformed from their original ambitions. The paper theorizes that endogenous mechanisms drive business model content changes, while exogenous ones reshape business model structure and governance. The concept of digital institutionalization is introduced to describe how these mechanisms led the sharing economy to conform to traditional practices. This paper contributes to past research by integrating institutional theory with business model studies and offering insights into the creation and breakdown of new institutional attempts related to digitalization.