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Platform Work in Developing Economies: Can Digitalisation Drive Structural Transformation?

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah Cook

    (University of Nottingham
    University of the Witwatersrand)

  • Uma Rani

    (ILO)

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the expansion or penetration of digital economic activity in developing country contexts, and what this may mean for economic or structural transformations for countries in the Global South. We ask what possibilities new jobs and forms of work in the digital economy—and in particular platform work—hold for the productive transformation of developing economies in ways that contribute to achieving the goals of human, inclusive, and sustainable development. What are the impacts on work and workers in this process? The question of whether a ‘digital transformation’ can spur development, and if so how, and to whose benefit, depends in large part on the nature of employment created and on whether labour can move to higher productivity sectors, raising incomes while strengthening state capacity to finance public goods and services, including social protection.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Cook & Uma Rani, 2025. "Platform Work in Developing Economies: Can Digitalisation Drive Structural Transformation?," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 68(2), pages 395-416, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ijlaec:v:68:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s41027-024-00541-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s41027-024-00541-1
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity
    • L16 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics; Macroeconomic Industrial Structure
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • J81 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Working Conditions
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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