
Networks and the Nature of the Firm – What’s the Future of Work? - ntoshev
https://medium.com/the-wtf-economy/networks-and-the-nature-of-the-firm-28790b6afdcc#.quidxqbio
======
lifeisstillgood
Roald Coase's impact on the organisation of the firm is a big fan-topic of
mine and (darn it) I'm actually writing a book on it and other changing
aspects of the world. Darn, must write faster :-)

The one thing we must be careful of in idolising Uber and Airbnb is that they
are lowering transaction costs so that existing capital can be utilised more
efficiently - which is great. It's just that the owners of the capital and the
law surrounding its control have yet to catch up. Look at AirBNb. The next
logical step is for Hilton etc to put their rooms for rent on AirBnB. But I
bet their rooms will be more expensive. Not for "brand defence" but because
someone renting out their spare room or even whole house probably is not
expert in costing the maintenance of physical rooms, or in some estimated 40%
of cases the owner of the capital is not actually the rentee- making it free
money effectively.

Add to that many hotel chains (Travelodge I know of but probably many others)
are in this franchise relationship where the central company does not own the
physical hotel but acts as ... Well, a branded ecommerce site. I bet the law
preventing the owners of the hotel from renting their rooms on different sites
will be challenged soon.

So as the law of contract catches up on these new franchises we shall see
adjustments - so far it has all been one way, but it will rebalance. It's
probably a good thing, but the magic of waving your phone to be whisked from
your current sidewalk to a room overlooking the park will become more
expensive, less magic. But I suspect it will take a generation to settle out
properly.

