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Does Craigslist Reduce Waste? Evidence from California and Florida

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  • Fremstad, Anders

Abstract

There is much discussion but little research on the environmental impacts of online platforms associated with the sharing economy. Economic theory suggests that falling transaction costs in secondhand markets increase incentives for people to exchange rather than discard used goods. This paper uses difference-in-difference methods to estimate Craigslist's effect on solid waste by exploiting a natural experiment in how the platform expanded across California and Florida. The econometric results suggest that Craigslist reduced daily per capita solid waste generation by about one third of a pound, though the estimates are not very precise. A plausibility analysis of the weight of items posted on Craigslist concludes that the 200 million annual for-sale posts created by Californians and Floridians can reasonably account for waste reductions of roughly this magnitude.

Suggested Citation

  • Fremstad, Anders, 2017. "Does Craigslist Reduce Waste? Evidence from California and Florida," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 135-143.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:132:y:2017:i:c:p:135-143
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.10.018
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Dan Wang & Liang Yan & Fangli Ruan, 2022. "A Combined IO-DEMATEL Analysis for Evaluating Sustainable Effects of the Sharing Related Industries Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-23, May.
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    5. Tina Ringenson & Mattias Höjer & Anna Kramers & Anna Viggedal, 2018. "Digitalization and Environmental Aims in Municipalities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, April.
    6. Wei, Xiaoyong & Lo, Chris.K.Y. & Jung, Sojin & Choi, Tsan-Ming, 2021. "From co-consumption to co-production: A systematic review and research synthesis of collaborative consumption practices," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 282-294.
    7. Eruguz, Ayse Sena & Karabağ, Oktay & Tetteroo, Eline & van Heijst, Carl & van den Heuvel, Wilco & Dekker, Rommert, 2024. "Customer-to-customer returns logistics: Can it mitigate the negative impact of online returns?," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    8. Andrei Boar & Ramon Bastida & Frederic Marimon, 2020. "A Systematic Literature Review. Relationships between the Sharing Economy, Sustainability and Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-14, August.
    9. V. M. Gil’mundinov & T. O. Tagaeva & A. I. Boksler, 2020. "Analysis and Forecasting of Waste Management Processes in Russia," Studies on Russian Economic Development, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 92-98, January.
    10. Akbari, Morteza & Foroudi, Pantea & Khodayari, Maryam & Zaman Fashami, Rahime & Shahabaldini parizi, Zahra & Shahriari, Elmira, 2022. "Sharing Your Assets: A Holistic Review of Sharing Economy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 604-625.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Transaction costs; Solid waste; Sharing economy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling

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