Dear all,
Thursday August 20, 11am - 12pm PT. Juliet Schor (Boston College).
Title: "Dependence and Precarity Among Gig Workers: understanding platform heterogeneity".
Talk abstract below.
Zoom info: https://zoom.us/j/97125802655 password: 957077
Youtube live stream link
Note: Next Thursday, 8/27, Negin Golrezaei (MIT) will present "Online Learning via Offline Greedy Algorithms: Applications in Market Design and Optimization". See our website for more info.
Sincerely,
Daniela, Gagan, Judy, and Yash
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Abstract:
Since its introduction in the late 2000s, there has been growing interest in sharing economy platforms. Scholars have taken two main approaches to explaining outcomes for platform work-precarity, which focuses on employment classification and insecure labor, and technological control via algorithms. Both predict that workers will have relatively common experiences. On the basis of 112 in-depth interviews with workers on seven platforms (Airbnb, TaskRabbit, Turo, Uber, Lyft, Postmates and Favor) we find heterogeneity of experiences across and within platforms. We argue that because platform labor is weakly institutionalized, worker satisfaction, autonomy, and earnings vary significantly across and within platforms, suggesting dominant interpretations are insufficient. We find that the extent to which workers are dependent on platform income to pay basic expenses rather than working for supplemental income explains the variation in outcomes, with supplemental earners being more satisfied and higher-earning. This suggests platforms are free-riding on conventional employers. We also find that platforms are hierarchically ordered, in terms of what providers can earn, conditions of work, and their ability to produce satisfied workers. Our findings suggest the need for a new analytic approach to platforms, which emphasizes labor force diversity, connections to conventional labor markets, and worker dependence.
Bio:
Juliet Schor is an economist and sociologist at Boston College. Schor's research focuses on the sociology of work, consumption, and climate change. A graduate of Wesleyan University, Schor received her Ph.D. in economics at the University of Massachusetts. Before joining Boston College, she taught at Harvard University for 17 years, in the Department of Economics and the Committee on Degrees in Women's Studies. Schor's most recent book is After the Gig: how the sharing economy got hijacked and how to win it back (U of California Press, 2020). Previous books include The Overworked American, The Overspent American, and Plenitude: the new economics of true wealth. Her current research topics include the gig economy and the future of work, time use, and the drivers of carbon emissions. She is currently working on an NSF-funded project on the "algorithmic workplace." Schor is also the Chair of the Board of Directors of Better Future Project, a Massachusetts-based climate activist organization.
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Yash Kanoria
Associate Professor
Columbia Business School
New York NY
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