“Sharing is caring,” as the adage goes. But in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the saying assumed an entirely new meaning, giving birth to an industry that is tipped to reach US$335 billion (S$446 billion) by 2025. And egalitarianism seems to be the thing furthest from anyone’s mind as tech firms and individuals scramble to corner a greater slice of this so-called “sharing economy”. But what exactly is the sharing economy? And is it evolving?

As the world embarks on a Fourth Industrial Revolution, the sharing economy represents a socioeconomic paradigm shift in the way that companies and people view the ownership and utilisation of assets.