In an economic environment of continual growth and reducing unemployment, one Luxembourg sector seems to lag despite its near-explosive growth in other economies, according to a review issued this week by Fondation IDEA. Luxembourgers, though, are not so interested in the so-called “sharing economy”.
While Luxembourg is doing well, and weathered the economic crisis better than other economies, the fallout from 2008 drove an explosion in the creation of platforms for sharing everything from goods, services, knowledge and resources, in some cases upsetting, or even upending, traditional methods of doing business.
The new approaches have allowed individuals to break through the gates erected by industry to engage in fields they may not have considered before, from hospitality (Airbnb), to transport (Uber), to financing (Kickstarter), and beyond. Yet in Luxembourg, the sharing economy accounts for just 1% of the broader economy, with fewer than 4% of Luxembourg residents offering services that are taken up by 13% of people, compared to 36% in France.
The low uptake is not linked to technical capacity, which Luxembourg has, but more to economic and socio-cultural conditions, including a large rural population, said Sarah Mollouet for Fondation Idea.
