Digital Platforms and the Future of Work: A Gendered Perspective

In this paper, we examine the role of online platforms in framing employment opportunities and market competition for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia. Using primary survey data and granular administrative records from an online food delivery application, we assess merchants’ business performance from January 2019 to February 2021, a period that includes an exogenous shock from the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that digital platforms expanded employment and income-generation opportunities for MSMEs during this period. However, the uptake of these opportunities and the impact of increased competition from other MSMEs on these platforms vary across gender lines. Three empirical findings emerge from this study. Firstly, the surge of new entrants to online markets put downward pressure on the revenues of both incumbent and entrant merchants for all gender categories (men-owned, women-owned, and jointly owned). Secondly, increased competition from men-owned businesses had a significant and negative impact on both women-owned and other men-owned business revenues in the same market, compared to competition from women- and jointly owned businesses. Thirdly, women-owned MSMEs were less likely to utilise government support programmes, business development services, and external lending instruments than men-owned businesses. This disparity may be attributed to information frictions and risk perceptions that limit women business owners’ ability to effectively navigate increasing market competition compared to other gender cohorts. The study concludes with policy recommendations aimed at facilitating a just transition in online markets within the evolving landscape of work.