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Volatile Fragility: New Employment Forms and Disrupted Employment Protection in the New Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Bin Chen

    (Geschwister Scholl Institute of Political Science, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, 80538 Munich, Germany)

  • Tao Liu

    (School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310007, China
    Institute of East Asian Studies, University Duisburg-Essen, 47057 Duisburg, Germany
    Institute for Sociology, University Duisburg-Essen, 47057 Duisburg, Germany)

  • Yingqi Wang

    (Center for Social Security Studies, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China)

Abstract

This research is based on empirical surveys conducted in two Chinese cities, Beijing and Chengdu, which examine employment relationships, labor protection and social protection in the new digital economy. Through these theoretically informed surveys on various forms of employment via online platforms, we have found that the organizational principles and functional patterns of employment have profoundly transformed in the epoch of digitalization. The traditional employment relationship characterized by written contracts with clearly defined entitlements and obligations for employers and employees have been increasingly substituted by new volatile, fluid and fragile employment forms, softening the labor rights and social rights of “digital employees” and strengthening social control over them through online evaluation systems supported by smart phones and apps. The employees engaged in the online sharing economy have become more individualized and atomized than ever before, resulting in the emergence of an unorganized and disenfranchised “digital working class”.

Suggested Citation

  • Bin Chen & Tao Liu & Yingqi Wang, 2020. "Volatile Fragility: New Employment Forms and Disrupted Employment Protection in the New Economy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-14, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:5:p:1531-:d:325762
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Diane Coyle, 2017. "Precarious and Productive Work in the Digital Economy," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 240(1), pages 5-14, May.
    2. Gerald Friedman, 2014. "Workers without employers: shadow corporations and the rise of the gig economy," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 2(2), pages 171-188, April.
    3. De Stefano, Valerio., 2016. "The rise of the "just-in-time workforce" : on-demand work, crowdwork and labour protection in the "gig-economy"," ILO Working Papers 994899823402676, International Labour Organization.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yang Cai & Weiwei Kong & Yongsheng Lian & Xiangxin Jin, 2021. "Depressive Symptoms among Chinese Informal Employees in the Digital Era," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-13, May.

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