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Uber-production: From global networks to digital platforms

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  • Gernot Grabher
  • Erwin van Tuijl

Abstract

Uber and Airbnb have advanced into emblematic cases in debates in which the new digital capitalism is framed in terms of the so-called sharing economy. While this strand of inquiry has produced a wealth of insights into the workings and impacts of peer-to-peer platforms, the digital transformation of business-to-business interactions has so far attracted less attention. The present Exchange confronts this challenge by juxtaposing platform conceptions with a pre-eminent framework to conceptualize business-to-business relations: global production networks (GPN). Specifically, this Exchange addresses challenges posed by the platform approach for the GPN framework in the four dimensions: value (from owning assets to granting access), governance (from make-or-buy to employ-or-enable), management (from back-end to front-end) and labour (from jobs to gigs).

Suggested Citation

  • Gernot Grabher & Erwin van Tuijl, 2020. "Uber-production: From global networks to digital platforms," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(5), pages 1005-1016, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:52:y:2020:i:5:p:1005-1016
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X20916507
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Csaba Mako & Miklos Illessy & Jozsef Pap & Saeed Nosratabadi, 2021. "Emerging Platform Work in the Context of the Regulatory Loophole (The Uber Fiasco in Hungary)," Papers 2105.05651, arXiv.org.
    2. Henry Wai-chung Yeung, 2021. "The trouble with global production networks," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(2), pages 428-438, March.
    3. Alvarez León, Luis F. & Aoyama, Yuko, 2022. "Industry emergence and market capture: The rise of autonomous vehicles," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    4. Katrin Schade & Marcus Hübscher & Felix zur Lage & Juana Schulze & Johannes Ringel, 2022. "Integrating Retail into an Urban Data Platform from a Stakeholder Perspective: Network Approaches in Leipzig (Germany)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.
    5. Sina Hardaker, 2022. "More Than Infrastructure Providers – Digital Platforms' Role and Power in Retail Digitalisation in Germany," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 113(3), pages 310-328, July.
    6. Makó, Csaba & Illéssy, Miklós & Pap, József, 2020. "Munkavégzés a platformalapú gazdaságban. A foglalkoztatás egy lehetséges modellje? [Work on the digital platform economy. Towards a new employment model for the future?]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(11), pages 1112-1129.
    7. Gengxin Sun, 2023. "Quantitative Analysis of Online Labor Platforms’ Algorithmic Management Influence on Psychological Health of Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-17, March.

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