PhD Studentship in the Sharing Economy

Location: Highfield Campus

Closing Date:  Friday 09 September 2016

Reference: 763116TR

Project Description

Applications are invited from highly motivated and skilled candidates to work on a cutting-edge research project aiming to investigate the multi-level factors that drive growth of sharing economy platforms (such as Airbnb, Uber, Taskrabbit, Blablacar, etc). Based on an in-depth understanding of the cross-industry and organisational dynamics, the project will investigate • What organisational, sectoral and geographical characteristics constrain and enable the growth of sharing economy platforms? and • What is the role of different institutional (cognitive, regulative, normative and spatial) contexts for shaping the diffusion of sharing practices amongst platform users? The project will utilise several quantitative datasets compiled by the Office for National Statistics and the European Commission, combined with usership data of selected sharing platforms. Advanced quantitative data analysis will be supported and enriched by qualitative data collected through interviews with sharing economy platforms and their users.

A prospective candidate will be based in a newly created Sharing Economy Lab at the Centre for Inclusive and Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and will benefit from the Lab’s recent and ongoing projects on upscaling in the sharing economy, consumer issues in the peer-to-peer economy, and user behaviour in digital platform environments. A successful candidate should have a good first degree and/or a master’s degree in a relevant social science subject (e.g. management, economics, economic/human geography etc.), and should be trained in advanced quantitative methods. Familiarity with qualitative research methods is also highly desirable. The PhD student will be supervised by Dr Pelin Demirel (Southampton Business School), Dr Vadim Grinevich (Southampton Business School), and Prof. Franz Huber (Visiting Fellow, University of Southampton & Seeburg Castle University, Austria), with each of them happy to assist with informal enquires related to this scholarship (P.Demirel@soton.ac.uk; V.Grinevich@soton.ac.uk; F.Huber@soton.ac.uk). The Southampton ESRC-DTC application form can be found on the Soton ESRC-DTC website

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/esrcdtc/applicationproceedure/index.page? Applicants must also have completed a University of Southampton online application form for the appropriate PhD Programme prior to the submission of the DTC Studentship application form.

Funding Notes

This award is a +3 PhD studentship (3 years funding). Studentships awarded by the Southampton ESRC-DTC cover programme fees and an annual Maintenance Grant. (Annual Stipend £14296 - 2016/17 RCUK Rate). Enhanced awards of an additional £3000 are available to those using Advanced Quantitative Methods as part of their research.

Southampton ESRC-DTC studentships also provide access to Research Training Support Grants, funding for Overseas Fieldwork, and additional funding awards for Overseas Institutional Visits, and Internships. The PhD Programme of study for this studentship must be commenced in the 2016/17 Academic Year, with an expected latest start date of January 2017.