The Winners and the Losers of the Platform Economy: Who Participates and Why?

• In Event: 2451 - Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 5. Flexible and Precarious Labor

Abstract

The platform economy is rapidly growing and transforming the dynamics of the labour market. For digital optimists, it is providing alternative work opportunities, potentially generating new income for those who need it most. Yet, critics point out that workers’ rights are jeopardized and most work in this industry is precarios. Drawing on US nationally representative data from the American Trends Panel 2016, we examine who participates in the platform economy and what their motivations are for working online. We find that those who participate in gig work are younger, non-white with lower levels of income and more mobile in terms of housing, and living in the US South and West. For online income earners, workers were male, younger, more mobile in terms of housing, and living in the Midwest and West. We also find differences according to the type of gig work and online selling they perform.

Authors

• Lyn N Hoang, University of Western Ontario

• Grant Blank, University of Oxford

• Anabel Quan-Haase, University of Western Ontario