Hardback
A Research Agenda for the Gig Economy and Society
Providing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary overview of the gig economy from both a labour and employment perspective, this Research Agenda goes beyond the question of the employment status of platform workers. It investigates how the gig economy is changing the way people work, how the platforms’ business models are spreading in our economies, and what labour and social institutions are needed to respond to the challenges that platform work raises.
More Information
Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
More Information
Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary.
Providing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary overview of the gig economy from both a labour and employment perspective, this Research Agenda goes beyond the question of the employment status of platform workers. It investigates how the gig economy is changing the way people work, how the platforms’ business models are spreading in our economies, and what labour and social institutions are needed to respond to the challenges that platform work raises.
Covering key issues such as algorithmic management, discrimination, occupational health and safety, casual work and collective labour rights, the authors challenge the narrative that the gig economy is a set of work arrangements that cannot be regulated through existing labour legislation and governance forms. The impact of the gig economy in developing countries and the regulation of global supply changes in platform work are also addressed.
With contributions from world-leading authors, this Research Agenda will be crucial reading for scholars of labour and employment law, sociologists, economists and industrial relations specialists.
Providing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary overview of the gig economy from both a labour and employment perspective, this Research Agenda goes beyond the question of the employment status of platform workers. It investigates how the gig economy is changing the way people work, how the platforms’ business models are spreading in our economies, and what labour and social institutions are needed to respond to the challenges that platform work raises.
Covering key issues such as algorithmic management, discrimination, occupational health and safety, casual work and collective labour rights, the authors challenge the narrative that the gig economy is a set of work arrangements that cannot be regulated through existing labour legislation and governance forms. The impact of the gig economy in developing countries and the regulation of global supply changes in platform work are also addressed.
With contributions from world-leading authors, this Research Agenda will be crucial reading for scholars of labour and employment law, sociologists, economists and industrial relations specialists.
Critical Acclaim
‘This important volume lays bare the significance of platform work for the wider world of work and for society at large. Through a multidisciplinary perspective it addresses a myriad of issues concerning platform work that have not received their due attention such as occupational safety and health, discrimination, and gaps in cross-border governance. The editors and contributors have done a fantastic job in making clear both the exceptional – and the unexceptional – aspects of platform work and thus provide a useful guide to scholars, social partners and policymakers of how to shape the gig economy so that it can be of benefit to all.’
– Janine Berg, International Labour Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
‘If the last two years have undoubtedly represented a quantum leap in the understanding and regulation of platform work at the European and national level, this volume marks the beginning of a second age of the multidisciplinary research on forms of work organized by technology. Thought-provoking contributions by brilliant authors from various scientific and geographical backgrounds pave the way for a new season of critical thinking, impactful inquiry and regulatory intervention. A much-recommended read!’
– Antonio Aloisi, IE University, Madrid, Spain
– Janine Berg, International Labour Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
‘If the last two years have undoubtedly represented a quantum leap in the understanding and regulation of platform work at the European and national level, this volume marks the beginning of a second age of the multidisciplinary research on forms of work organized by technology. Thought-provoking contributions by brilliant authors from various scientific and geographical backgrounds pave the way for a new season of critical thinking, impactful inquiry and regulatory intervention. A much-recommended read!’
– Antonio Aloisi, IE University, Madrid, Spain
Contributors
Contributors: Alberto Barrio, Alessio Bertolini, Alan Bogg, Ricardo Buendia, Iain Campbell, Aude Cefaliello, Eleni De Becker, Valerio De Stefano, Ruth Dukes, Ilda Durri, Nora Gobel, Mark Graham, Elena Gramano, Kelle Howson, Cristina Inversi, Srujana Katta, Miriam Kullmann, Rishabh Kumar Dhir, Nastazja Potocka-Sionek, Uma Rani, Paul Schoukens, Natalie Sedacca, Charalampos Stylogiannis, Funda Ustek-Spilda, Mathias Wouters
Contents
Contents:
1 Introduction to A Research Agenda for the Gig
Economy and Society 1
Valerio De Stefano, Ilda Durri, Charalampos
Stylogiannis, Mathias Wouters
2 Exclusion by default: Platform workers’ quest for
labour protections 13
Valerio De Stefano, Ilda Durri, Charalampos
Stylogiannis, Mathias Wouters
3 The impact of the gig-economy on occupational
health and safety: Just an occupation hazard? 33
Aude Cefaliello, Cristina Inversi
4 Algorithmic discrimination, the role of GPS, and
the limited scope of EU non-discrimination law 53
Elena Gramano, Miriam Kullmann
5 The law and worker voice in the gig economy 73
Alan Bogg, Ricardo Buendia
6 Platform economy and the risk of in-work
poverty: A research agenda for social security lawyers 93
Paul Schoukens, Alberto Barrio, Eleni De Becker
7 Platform work and precariousness: Low earnings
and limited control of work 113
Iain Campbell
8 On demand work as a legal framework to
understand the gig economy 133
Ruth Dukes
9 Domestic work and the gig economy 149
Natalie Sedacca
10 Is flexibility and autonomy a myth or reality on
taxi platforms? Comparison between traditional
and app-based taxi drivers in developing countries 167
Uma Rani, Nora Gobel, Rishabh Kumar Dhir
11 The emerging geographies of platform labour:
Intensifying trends in global capitalism 193
Kelle Howson, Alessio Bertolini, Srujana Katta,
Funda Ustek-Spilda, Mark Graham
12 Crowdwork and global supply chains: Regulating
digital piecework 215
Nastazja Potocka-Sionek
Index 235
1 Introduction to A Research Agenda for the Gig
Economy and Society 1
Valerio De Stefano, Ilda Durri, Charalampos
Stylogiannis, Mathias Wouters
2 Exclusion by default: Platform workers’ quest for
labour protections 13
Valerio De Stefano, Ilda Durri, Charalampos
Stylogiannis, Mathias Wouters
3 The impact of the gig-economy on occupational
health and safety: Just an occupation hazard? 33
Aude Cefaliello, Cristina Inversi
4 Algorithmic discrimination, the role of GPS, and
the limited scope of EU non-discrimination law 53
Elena Gramano, Miriam Kullmann
5 The law and worker voice in the gig economy 73
Alan Bogg, Ricardo Buendia
6 Platform economy and the risk of in-work
poverty: A research agenda for social security lawyers 93
Paul Schoukens, Alberto Barrio, Eleni De Becker
7 Platform work and precariousness: Low earnings
and limited control of work 113
Iain Campbell
8 On demand work as a legal framework to
understand the gig economy 133
Ruth Dukes
9 Domestic work and the gig economy 149
Natalie Sedacca
10 Is flexibility and autonomy a myth or reality on
taxi platforms? Comparison between traditional
and app-based taxi drivers in developing countries 167
Uma Rani, Nora Gobel, Rishabh Kumar Dhir
11 The emerging geographies of platform labour:
Intensifying trends in global capitalism 193
Kelle Howson, Alessio Bertolini, Srujana Katta,
Funda Ustek-Spilda, Mark Graham
12 Crowdwork and global supply chains: Regulating
digital piecework 215
Nastazja Potocka-Sionek
Index 235
