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Gig economy platforms: Boon or Bane?

Author

Listed:
  • Cyrille Schwellnus
  • Assaf Geva
  • Mathilde Pak
  • Rafael Veiel

Abstract

The rapid emergence of gig economy platforms that use digital technologies to intermediate labour on a per-task basis has triggered an intense policy debate about the economic and social implications. This paper takes stock of the emerging evidence. The results suggest that gig economy platforms’ size remains modest (1-3 per cent of overall employment). Their growth has been most pronounced in a small number of services industries with high shares of own-account workers, suggesting that thus far they have been a substitute for traditional self-employment rather than dependent employment. New evidence provided in this paper is consistent with positive effects of platform growth on overall employment and small negative or insignificant effects on dependent employment and wages. While most empirical studies suggest that platforms are more efficient in matching workers to clients, reductions in barriers to work could offset such productivity-enhancing effects by creating employment opportunities for low-productivity workers. Fully reaping the potential benefits from gig economy platforms while protecting workers and consumers requires adapting existing policy settings in product and labour markets and applying them to traditional businesses and platforms on an equal footing.

Suggested Citation

  • Cyrille Schwellnus & Assaf Geva & Mathilde Pak & Rafael Veiel, 2019. "Gig economy platforms: Boon or Bane?," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1550, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1550-en
    DOI: 10.1787/fdb0570b-en
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    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. Kelle HOWSON & Funda USTEK‐SPILDA & Alessio BERTOLINI & Richard HEEKS & Fabian FERRARI & Srujana KATTA & Matthew COLE & Pablo AGUERA RENESES & Nancy SALEM & David SUTCLIFFE & Shelly STEWARD & Mark GRA, 2022. "Stripping back the mask: Working conditions on digital labour platforms during the COVID‐19 pandemic," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 161(3), pages 413-440, September.
    3. Radosław Malik & Anna Visvizi & Małgorzata Skrzek-Lubasińska, 2021. "The Gig Economy: Current Issues, the Debate, and the New Avenues of Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-20, April.
    4. Adermon, Adrian & Hensvik, Lena, 2022. "Gig-jobs: Stepping stones or dead ends?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    5. Katarzyna Gruszka & Manuel Scholz-Wäckerle & Ernest Aigner, 2020. "Planetary carambolage: The evolutionary political economy of technology, nature and work," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 273-293, November.
    6. Loganathan, Muralidharan, 2021. "Assessing social sustainability in the gig economy," SocArXiv 5gych, Center for Open Science.
    7. Kolade, Oluwaseun & Owoseni, Adebowale, 2022. "Employment 5.0: The work of the future and the future of work," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. KURODA Sachiko & ONISHI Koichiro, 2023. "Exploring the Gig Economy in Japan: A bank data-driven analysis of food delivery gig workers," Discussion papers 23025, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    gig economy; public policy;

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J40 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - General
    • J48 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Particular Labor Markets; Public Policy

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