How Does Uber Economy Affect Australia's Economy

The Introduction of Uber and Australia’s Economy
When Uber first launched in the Australian market in October 2012, it had a large impact on the economy and the way it would be run. Australia is a mixed market economy which means it has a central government that intervenes in the economy when necessary. (Radcliffe, Mixed Economic System, n.d.)
This approach differs from other economies as it allows the more production choice, therefore a wider opportunity in the workforce. This gives producers a level of freedom while still allowing the government to intervene in economic activities to achieve social needs by helping decide what to produce, how to produce and how much to produce.
Australia has begun a shift towards a sharing economy, where

It not only effected the transport industry but the consumers who used these services. These effects include surge pricing, licensing and a decrease of drink driving accidents.
Surge pricing has a big impact on both producers and consumers. Surge pricing is when the cost of a service rises or falls depending on the current demand. If the demand is high, the fare will increase so there is availability for whoever needs a ride. However, if the demand is low, it will go back to the regular price (refer to appendix). This is beneficial for the customer stakeholders of Uber as it ensures plenty availability during peak times and low prices when there is less demand. Ubers customers are very important as they pay for the employees’ wages and determine the businesses reputation which all affects how well the business will do. If the public has a poor perception of Uber due to surge pricing, then Ubers reputation will go down, along with the number of customers they received which in-turn will decrease the amount of profit Uber generates. This also influences the stakeholder taxi drivers. A stakeholder is anyone who is either affected or can be affected by Uber. (Radcliffe, Stakeholder, n.d.) When the demand decreases, so does the price of an Uber, therefore making it the preferable choice among consumers although when the price surges

Drink driving has a large impact on Australians due to them not being in a good state of mind from intoxication, allowing them to make bad decisions. This includes deciding to risk driving home while intoxicated, which is illegal through all states in Australia and can result in a fine, license disqualification or even imprisonment. (Unknown, Tougher Uber laws in Queensland aim to level playing field, n.d.) After the addition of Uber, a decrease in drink driving was recorded because catching an Uber is considerably cheaper than a taxi during regular or low demand. (Unknown, Tougher Uber laws in Queensland aim to level playing field, n.d.) It also allows customers who have spent all their cash or lost their wallet to still be able to travel to back home. This leads customer to believe Uber is the preferable option as taxis don’t have this feature. This would have a large impact on the taxi drivers, one of Ubers stakeholders as late-night customers would be more incline to choose Uber if they are lacking physical cash. A solution to this would be to have the taxis to also switch to a cashless service. This method has been implemented into Singapore with all ComfortDelGro taxis, including flag-down ones are able to be paid digitally, which has received a lot of positive feedback. (Unknown, ComfortDelGro taxis to accept cashless mobile