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The purpose of this paper is to delineate the current state of the art of sharing economy (SE) research and practice. It provides a new framework to help managers and academics to consider this field with the right managerial and theoretical lenses.

A systematic literature on the SE was conducted, resulting in the analysis of 114 articles in the management literature. This was completed by the empirical investigations of business model and industry of 32 members of three national associations promoting SE: SE UK, Ireland and Denmark.

Papers dealing with SE themes focus on consumers’ motivations, impact on the society, market and policy, as well as the revenue model. SE businesses can be differentiated depending on whether their assets are new or re-used and the transaction is permanent or temporary. Based on this matrix, the study reveals four archetypes of SE businesses: “on-demand renters,” “lifecycle extenders,” “seller aggregators” and “ephemeral matchmakers.”

The paper outlines a significant gap between what is current focus of the academic literature and the reality of SE purposes and businesses. This provides goals for future research.

The framework and clustering of business model archetypes may help managers and entrepreneurs dealing with SE to better understand the underlying value drivers behind those business models.

There are some discrepancies between the SE themes emerging from the management literature and the business model diversity of SE companies. This research aims at helping scholars and managers to position themselves in the field.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the explanatory power of existing theories of entrepreneurship. The authors find gaps and fragmentation and offer propose a different approach – a theory of entrepreneuring – a theory of practice.

This is a conceptual paper, but the authors draw heavily on the literature. They also offer examples of what the theory can offer.

Existing theory is good at explaining aspects of entrepreneurship. However, most theories are discipline bound and operate in silos. A theory of entrepreneurship practice can connect and bridge disciplines.

A theory of entrepreneurship as practice will not replace current theories. It will however complement them and thus be well suited to emerging economies.