Top Research Papers on Gig Economy

The prototypical gig worker—a contract driver for a ridesharing company—reports self-employment earnings in the Taxi and Limousine Services industry. Growth in the number of self-employed drivers in this industry has dramatically outpaced the growth in solo self-employment in any other industry. We use rich administrative tax data to explore who these workers are, how that has changed over time and how the new drivers combine self-employment with wage and salary work. Uber’s entrance to a local labor market leads to significant growth in the number of drivers over the following years. Other th...

This research conducted a systematic literature review to investigate Employee Engagement in the context of the Gig Economy. Key factors, such as work flexibility, organizational support, and work-life balance, were identified as important determinants in influencing employee engagement levels. The research results show that employee engagement contributes to increasing work efficiency, work quality, job satisfaction, and stress management in gig workers. In addition, involvement in employee communities and increasing professional networks are crucial aspects in expanding impact and career opp...

Fixed-term, contract-based employment is continuously spreading in the world. It has been given many names; in this paper it is termed the gig economy in the most comprehensive sense. We are going to present the basic features of the gig economy with special attention to short-term, incentive contracts affecting the relationship between employer and worker. In the gig economy employers use performance related wage to incentivise workers to work with the required intensity. By that incentive, employers also source out their risk to their workers whose wages and all their employment becomes unce...

It is argued that certain algorithms can facilitate new relationships of domination by sustaining a socio-technical system in which the owners and managers of a company dominate workers.

ABSTRACT Employment practices in the gig economy have routinely been defended through the language of individual freedom. Indeed, this particular model of on-demand employment is often presented as removing constraints on the freedom to choose when, where and how to sell one’s labour, enabling individuals to exercise greater self-authorship over their working lives. In this article, however, I show how the particular conception of freedom that underpins this pro-gig work discourse functions to obscure significant threats to the liberty of gig workers. An alternative perspective, inspired by th...

Technological advances such as smartphones, mobile applications, and online platforms have enabled a new form of economy, known as a gig economy, at a large scale, in which there is a freemarket system allowing organizations (job providers) to hire independent contractors (job seeker). Unlike traditional employer and employee relationships, the gig economy creates opportunities for independent workers to seek short-term contract jobs and temporary positions. This article presents a systematic review of the literature associated with a bibliometric analysis of the global perspective of the gig ...

PurposeThe alternative arrangements to traditional employment have become a promising area in the gig economy with the technological advancements dominating every work. The purpose of this paper is to explore the barriers to the entry of gig workers in gig platforms pertaining to the food delivery sector. It proposes a framework using interpretive structural modelling (ISM) for which systematic literature review is done to extract the variables. This analysis helps to examine the relationship between the entry barriers to gig platforms. The study further proposes strategies to reduce the entry...

The paper examines existing policy initiatives and identifies gaps in addressing ethical challenges, particularly in the realm of algorithmic systems and the need for comprehensive measures to protect the rights of gig workers’ rights thus focusing on their welfare.

The number of people holding non-traditional jobs (independent contractors, temporary workers, “gig” workers) has grown steadily as technology increasingly enables short-term labor contracting and fixed employment costs continue to rise. For many firms that need less than a full-time person for short-term work and for many workers who value flexibility this has created a great deal of surplus. During slack economic periods, non-traditional work also serves as an alternative safety net. Non-traditional jobs will continue to become more common, though policy changes could slow or accelerate the ...

Three distinct “selling points” of gig economy are explored, namely: the possibility to generate (not always) steady income, the flexibility it offers to its users, and its consequences on workers’ social and emotional state, putting into question their benefits for workers, for the profit of platforms and businesses.

The 'gig economy' is a relatively recent term coined to describe a range of working arrangements that have previously been denoted as precarious, flexible and contingent. These may include casual workers, temporary agency workers, those on zero-hours contracts and dependent contractors. This books seeks to get behind the contemporary buzz surrounding the term and provide some theoretical and empirical analysis of the gig work phenomenon. The book seeks to assess more critically some of the rhetorical claims made about gig work and to provide a balanced appraisal of the ramifications for indivi...

This work analyzes a unique survey data set from a national sample of 1512 U.S. adults to compare four stages of gig economy participation and implies that the gig economy increases labor market stratification and that digital participation inequalities compound labor inequalities.

The gig economy can serve up to 90 million jobs in the non-farm sectors in India with a potential to add 1.25% to the GDP over the "long term".

The gig economy can serve up to 90 million jobs in the non-farm sectors in India with a potential to add 1.25% to the GDP over the "long term".

This book draws together literature on globalization and small and medium enterprise development and internationalization from disparate sources into a cohesive body of work, which traces the evolution of entrepreneurship and the understanding of the topic.

Tax system in this modern day is inherently complex and dynamic in nature coupled with the fact that it is being influenced by a variety of factor. The main objective of this study is to evaluate tax compliance in the gig economy: the need for transparency and accountability. Using the Saunders’ Research Onion layers, the study employed the use of quantitative data and qualitative data. Structured questionnaire and interview were used as data instrument. Data collated werecoded and then subjected to analysis.Theresultof the findingsshows that 66.6 % of the respondentsstronglyagreedto tax compl...

This article explores the writing and reading requirements of the literacy practices, events, and texts characteristic of work mediated by the online labor platforms of the gig economy, such as Airtasker and Freelancer, which bring together people needing a job done with those willing to do it. These emerging platform-based discourse communities and their associated literacies are a new domain of social activity. Based on an examination of seven gig economy platforms, the present article examines the core literacy event in the gig economy, the posting and bidding for tasks, together with the t...

ABSTRACT Recent years have seen notions of the “gig economy” become widespread. Hitherto most analyses of this phenomenon have centered on first defining the phenomenon, then tracing its extent and effects before considering the policy implications. However, few previous accounts have concerned themselves with the origins of the word “gig,” and none have focused on those workers whose lives revolve around gigs―musicians. This article seeks to address this lacuna and argues that a study of musicians’ working lives has much to teach those interested in the development and implications of the gig...

: The outbreak of COVID-19 has unleashed opportunities in the gig economy, especially for the young generation. Due to pandemic lockdowns, the demand for supplies and delivery services had soared, and many took the opportunity to earn a good income that helped them survive the challenging period. Therefore, this study aims to identify the motivational factors that drive people to join the gig economy. The qualitative method was utilised to determine the “push” and “pull” factors that influenced gig work. The data was collected from 235 respondents via Google Forms. The findings indicated that ...

Modern economy has benefited from gig economy idea, where, instead of hiring permanent employees, a company assigns each task to the person who is the most efficient in performing this task. This way, each task is performed in the best possible way -by a person who is the most suited for this job. Why not extend this idea to education? Every student deserves the best possible teacher in every topic. So why not have a teacher who is the best in town in explaining quadratic equations teach quadratic equations to all the students from the town? In this paper, we describe this proposal and its log...

Gig jobs have become a structural aspect of contemporary economic landscape, creating unique social and technological challenges. How can policies and design solutions better protect gig workers and mitigate the risks participants face?

Developing swiftly in Indian Labour marketplace and higher recognize its structure, operating preparations and advise a coverage alternate to any organizations that the authorities need to act as a facilitator and be a part of Industry and Academia via way of means of permitting numerous new platform in understanding gig economy.

This paper analyzed workers’ posts about privacy and surveillance from 12 Reddit forums representing four main types of work, and presented a guiding set of questions that workers, designers, and researchers can use to assess the privacy implications of current and future gig work platforms.

This paper aims to research the main characteristics and trends of the freelancer’s market in temporary and occasional jobs in the Digital economy. The research was conducted by analyzing the content of reports of companies that hire freelancers, consulting companies and blogs of experts. The Digital economy is one of the results of the widespread application of information and communication technologies (ICT) that have influenced the transformation of the business model. Widespread application of ICT increased the flexibility of the work environment from the perspective of the place and time ...

"Increasingly, employees are being falsely treated as ‘self-employed’. This phenomenon – the ‘gig economy’ – is seen as the inevitable shape of things to come. In this book, Colin Crouch takes a step back and questions this logic. He shows how the idea of an employee – a stable status that involves a bundle of rights – has maintained a curious persistence. Examining the ways companies are attacking these rights, from proffering temporary work to involuntary part-time work to ‘gigging’, he reveals the paradoxes of the situation and argues that it should not and cannot continue. He goes on to pr...

Abstract The rapid ascent of digital platforms and the gig economy has prompted concerns about the gender pay gap. The results show that in the gig economy, gender continues to be a crucial determinant of workers’ earnings, with women earning 85% of what men earn on a monthly basis. Nevertheless, in comparison to the traditional waged employment during the same period, the gender pay gap in the gig economy has narrowed. While some gig jobs (e.g., ride-hailing services, delivery services, online education) exhibit certain occupational segregation, women in gig economy work are no longer concent...

The article analyzes the factors influencing the dynamics of the gig economy and states the need for targeted measures to adapt the economy to the new model, including retraining or creating alternative employment opportunities for “traditional” workers giving up jobs in favor of gig-employed ones.

Five main clusters emerged from the study and the main themes deal with sharing, gig, and platform economy, digitalization, teleworking, career participation and platforms; finally, gig workers are key for developing strategies, policies, and actions to achieve a social welfare through entrepreneurship in the platform ecosystem.

The emergence of gig work (e.g., freelancing, rideshare driving, food and parcel delivery, travel nursing, virtual assistantship) and the gig economy challenges organizational researchers to consider how they should revise traditional theories of work behavior to consider the dynamics of new work arrangements. As a prime example that is central to this review, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is a form of job performance whereby motives stem from the quality of work relationships with direct supervisors, coworkers, and other organizational agents. However, gig workers experience very ...

It is shown that algorithmic control is central to the operation of online labour platforms and can result in low pay, social isolation, working unsocial and irregular hours, overwork, sleep deprivation and exhaustion.

Unlike traditional firm production, gig economy workers provide their own physical capital. As a consequence, the low‐income households for whom gig economy opportunities are most valuable often borrow to participate. In the context of ride‐share, difference‐in‐difference analysis reveals increased vehicle purchases, borrowing, utilization, and employment around entry, but financially constrained individuals cannot participate. To assess the equilibrium importance of financing, I build and estimate a structural model of the gig economy. Access to finance proves critical for the gig economy's g...

Online technology has developed to an extent where traditional labor markets have transformed, creating opportunities for people and businesses to participate in the global marketplace by employing contract labor. Application-based transportation including ridesharing apps, food and commodity delivery platform apps, and other consumer-facing services brought in the concepts of flexible work reshaping gig work into the mainstream creating millions of jobs in the areas of operation. Even though the gig economy provides flexibility in work, the real situation of the gig workforce seems very compl...

Militant groups delegate operations to contingent, short-term, and freelance agents. Such informal and ad-hoc employment patterns have wide-reaching consequences, yet the academic literature lacks a systematic vocabulary and framework to analyze these practices. Using primary and secondary sources, I introduce a descriptive typology of informal employment patterns in militant groups, contributing to scholarship and practice by establishing a basis for a systematic comparison of variation in militant employment models, particularly highlighting how these practices can have far-reaching implicat...

In this article, I explore the relationship between yoga and the gig economy, a phenomenon that was accentuated during the pandemic and has prevailed in the current cost-of-living crisis. In the first half of the article, I review existing literature in relation to yoga, women and work, and examine how flexibilization, precarization and gender intersect in the organization of labour, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the second half of the article, I draw on my observations from a conceptual reading of Instagram content, and social justice activity organized by the Independent Workers’ Union ...

This report wishes to explore the dimension, quality and characteristics of Gig Economy in a comparative way. Platform capitalism represents the most appropriate form to interpret the ongoing capitalistic transformations. But the modalities to analyze this phenomenon and the normative efforts appear as still very much contaminated by the prevalent narratives among public opinion. This comparative analysis looks at the main studies carried out at a European and national level on the quality and diffusion of platform economies, in an attempt to go beyond mainstream narratives, and therefore offe...

In the industrial era, traditional firms emerged as an efficient resource allocation, but in the past two decades, informatization and technological development have spawned a series of emerging economic models, among which the gig economy attracts much attention globally.

The rise of the gig economy, also known as the platform economy, has compelled businesses to reconsider their relationships with their various stakeholders, including gig workers that are sometimes referred to as independent contractors. This has been especially noticeable in the on-demand delivery sector. This article examines how stakeholders in this sector are addressing social supply chain sustainability issues. We investigated measures taken by companies in the on-demand delivery sector between 2016 and 2020 using documentary research and content analysis. Based on stakeholder theory, we ...

The phenomenon of globalization, which gained momentum after the 1980s, became widespread in all parts of the society and research of working life has become a normal situation. The phenomenon of globalization has been included in the socio-economic structure of the society through internet networks. It is considered necessary for individuals to turn into an online business structure that emerges through digital platforms in order to continue their lives, to maintain welfare and peace. Thus, an increase in the trends of research on the structure of working life in terms of social sustainabilit...

Researchers are seeking multidisciplinary research into the rapidly evolving gig-economy to help shape the future of work in the sector.

Due to advances in technology like mobile applications and online platforms, millions of American workers now earn income through “gig” work, which allows them the flexibility to set their own hours and choose which jobs to take. To the surprise of many gig workers, the tax law considers them to be “business owners,” which subjects them to onerous recordkeeping and filing requirements, along with the obligation to pay quarterly estimated taxes. This Article proposes two reforms that would drastically reduce compliance burdens for this new generation of business owners, while simultaneously enh...

While the gig economy has expanded rapidly in the last decade, few have studied the psychological ramifications of working for an online labor platform. Guided by classical and modern theories of work and alienation, we investigate whether engagement in platform work is associated with an increased sense of powerlessness and isolation. We analyze data from two national surveys of workers from the Canadian Quality of Work and Economic Life Study in September 2019 (N = 2,460) and March 2020 (N = 2,469). Analyses reveal greater levels of powerlessness and loneliness among platform workers—a patte...

All of a sudden, everybody’s talking about the gig economy. From taxi drivers to pizza deliverers to the unemployed, we are all aware of the huge changes that it is driving in our lives as workers, consumers and citizens. This is the first comprehensive overview of this highly topical subject. Drawing upon years of research, stories from gig workers, and a review of the key trends and debates, Jamie Woodcock and Mark Graham shed light on how the gig economy came to be, how it works and what it’s like to work in it. They show that, although it has facilitated innovative new services and created...

This abstract explores the key characteristics of the gig economy, including its reliance on technology, emphasis on flexibility, and its implications for workers, businesses, and society as a whole.

The analysis show that the HR functions in the companies are expected to shape according to the new trends in the GIG economy, and automation and artificial intelligence technologies could have a significant impact on the gig economy.

The post-pandemic economic landscape has witnessed the emergence of a worldwide sharing economy system, commonly known as the ‘gig economy’. This system represents a significant transformation in labor and services exchange characterized by short-term jobs, freelance, or on-demand work arrangements facilitated by digital platforms. Recently, the gig economy has emerged as a highly promising employment preference due to its flexibility. However, it has also led to significant inequality issues for traditional workers. Moreover, this sharing economy system also exerts substantial impacts on the ...

Eighteen years ago, the New York Times Magazine reported on a proposed online project aimed at protecting the country’s 47,000 strategic facilities, including oil pipelines, power stations, and dams. How do you protect such a vast network of sites vulnerable to sabotage, with limited government resources and personnel? The answer: pay freelance “spotters” eight to ten dollars an hour to check pictures sent to their home computers in order to answer the question: “do you see a person or vehicle in this image?” A confirmed positive sighting would prompt a law enforcement response, “in less than ...

Purpose: The recent rise in the gig economy has led to change in supply and demand of labour globally. People have opted to work as freelancers or contractors on projects of multiple companies. On the other hand, have also seen it beneficial to outsource for gig workers whenever they need them to work for a specific period since it has helped them cut on the labour costs of hiring permanent employees. The goal of this study is to identify and discuss the roles of the gig economy in the insurance sector. The purpose of this work is to enhance the reader’s understanding on what is a gig economy ...

As the shift towards the gig economy and more transient employment relationship happens, organizations continue to face the dilemma of building trust among gig economy workers. Gig economy workers cannot be treated like permanent workers within traditional employment contracts, as it would defeat the advantages of flexibilization that the gig economy provides. It is necessary that leaders of platform-based corporations stand by gig economy workers contracted by them when they face instances of prejudice from customers or other social actors. Formalization of the modes through which platform co...

This paper will examine the business model and discuss recommendations of best practices for integrating the gig economy as a solution to workforce issues, improving global economic policies, entrepreneurial growth and society. Technology, demand, and location are environmental factors that we analyzed. The positive and negative contributions that entrepreneurs have on this economy are outlined, as well. Throughout the research, the achievement of understanding what the gig economy is and how it is shaping the future is a key focus. The conclusion is made of whether the gig economy is somethin...

Abstract With low barriers to entry and ease of access to work, the gig economy offers the prospect of boundaryless opportunities for flexible working arrangements characterised by increased autonomy. This form of work, however, may leave individuals without development opportunities and could stymie career progression. Drawing on boundaryless career theory, this study examines the potential of gig workers to develop the transferable career competencies required to effectively pursue opportunities beyond these precarious roles. Through insights from 56 gig worker interviews, we analyse the liv...