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The challenge of measuring digital platform work

Author

Listed:
  • Marina Gómez García
  • Laura Hospido

Abstract

The article presents an overview of digital platform work in Spain and analyses the challenge of quantifying this work in view of the lack of reliable and comprehensive data available. Digital platforms are technological infrastructures that act as intermediaries, facilitating interaction between two or more persons, for the provision of services through IT applications in exchange for payment. Although it is estimated that platform work accounts for less than 5% of the global workforce, this share is expected to increase. In 2018, according to the COLLEEM survey, platform work was the main job of 2.6% of the Spanish population over 16. Including occasional platform work, the figure rose to 18.5%, the highest percentage among the 16 European countries included in the survey. Nevertheless, in practice it is difficult to obtain precise figures, since to date official statistics are not designed to include the gig economy. The article compares the demographic characteristics of platform workers in Spain, according to the COLLEEM survey, and those of self-employed workers and employees according to two Spanish surveys of individuals and households, namely the 2018 Labour Force Survey (Encuesta de Población Activa) and the 2017 Survey of Household Finances (Encuesta Financiera de las Familias). The comparison shows that digital platform workers make up a specific group that is not directly comparable with either employees or the self-employed. To conclude, a number of ways to obtain a better measure of digital platform work are considered. One option would be to include direct questions on these work arrangements in employment survey questionnaires. Another would be to develop integrated datasets, combining the information from administrative records, which include digital platform activities, with surveys of the workers included in those records. In any event, in order for these administrative records and surveys to reflect platform work accurately, labour legislation needs to clearly define the relationship between those providing the services and the platforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Marina Gómez García & Laura Hospido, 2022. "The challenge of measuring digital platform work," Economic Bulletin, Banco de España, issue 1/2022.
    • Handle: RePEc:bde:journl:y:2022:i:01:d:aa:n:03
    Note: Analytical Articles
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Katharine G. Abraham & John C. Haltiwanger & Kristin Sandusky & James R. Spletzer, 2017. "Measuring the Gig Economy: Current Knowledge and Open Issues," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring and Accounting for Innovation in the Twenty-First Century, pages 257-298, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Abraham Katharine G. & Amaya Ashley, 2019. "Probing for Informal Work Activity," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 35(3), pages 487-508, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    digital platform work; self-employment; employment.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence

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