THE ECONOMICS OF THE ONLINE GIG ECONOMY: ALGORITHMIC HIRING PRACTICES, DIGITAL LABOR-MARKET INTERMEDIATION, AND RIGHTS FOR PLATFORM WORKERS
DOUGLAS HYERS, MARIA KOVACOVAABSTRACT. This article reviews Prassl (2018) and supplements it with theoretically-based empirical research. Using data from Ardent Partners, BLS, Brookings Analysis of Census Bureau, CB Insights, ChunkofChange, Edison Research, EY, Marketplace, Moody’s data, and Statista, we performed analyses and made estimates regarding top contingent workforce management challenges, the size of the gig economy, the relationship between nonemployer firms and employment in the U.S., selected benefits and downsides of contingent work in the gig economy, and venture capital investment in the gig economy, and clarified that gig-economy operators frequently replicate established employers, not marketplaces.
JEL codes: L14; L86
Keywords: online gig economy; hiring practice; platform worker
How to cite: Hyers, Douglas, and Maria Kovacova (2018). “The Economics of the Online Gig Economy: Algorithmic Hiring Practices, Digital Labor-Market Intermediation, and Rights for Platform Workers,” Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management 6(1): 160–165.
Received 25 February 2018 • Received in revised form 28 March 2018
Accepted 29 March 2018 • Available online 18 April 2018
doi:10.22381/PIHRM6120187