Digital labour platforms in Pakistan: institutional voids and solidarity networks

Abstract

PurposeWhile digital labour platforms are being increasingly studied across the Global South, the existing literature does not conceptualise the theoretical link between such platforms and socio-economic development. This paper theorises such a link drawing on the notion of institutional voids defined, as in Khanna and Palepu (2010), as “the absence of intermediaries to efficiently connect buyers and sellers” in an economy. We frame digital labour platforms as means to fill institutional voids, seeking to create “development” in the form of earning opportunities in contexts of deprivation.Design/methodology/approachWe draw on an interpretive case study of an online work training project in a deprived region of Pakistan, where members of marginalised communities were trained to become freelancers for global digital labour platforms. We use the notion of market-enabling institutions aimed at filling institutional voids as a lens to study the project's declared goals, examining the extent to which these were met in practice for the workers who participated in the training.FindingsOur analysis reveals three types of market-enabling institutions–credibility enhancers, aggregators and distributors, and transaction facilitators–through which digital labour platforms seek to fill institutional voids. However, workers' narratives reveal that institutional voids are only partially filled by these platforms, and their perpetuation results in diverse forms of power asymmetries leveraged by clients and owners of the platforms. We also observe the formation of solidarity networks among workers, networks that are intra-familial and societal rather than characterised by formal unionisation.Originality/valueThe paper offers a novel perspective to theorise the link between digital labour and socio-economic development. Applying such a perspective in a Global South context, it also finds the limits of the digital platforms' institutional void-filling potential, highlighting the emergence of power asymmetries and the emerging formation of worker solidarity networks.

Cyber-security and risky behaviors in a developing country context: a Pakistani perspective

“…Pakistan is now ranked 4 th in ICT outsourcing (Masood et al, n.d.), bringing home revenue of $1 billion. The limited opportunities in the local labor market in Pakistan has fuelled this growing interest in freelancing (Malik et al 2020 ) that is supported by one of the largest young population of under twenty five in the world (“Payoneer | The Global Gig-Economy Index: Q2 2019 ” 2020). These freelancers are equipped with technically oriented education (“Payoneer | The Global Gig-Economy Index: Q2 2019 ” 2020) and constitutes 70% of the Pakistani freelance landscape (“Freelancer Salaries & Earnings Income Survey 2020 ” 2020).…”

Degenerative outcomes of digital identity platforms for development

“…For example, many studies focus on the production of disempowering effects by digital labour platforms, as well as the links of such platforms with development effects (cf. Graham, Hjorth, & Lehdonvirta, 2017;Heeks, 2017;Heeks, Eskelund, Gomez-Morantes, Malik, & Nicholson, 2020;Malik, Heeks, Masiero, & Nicholson, 2021). Conversely, research of innovation platforms that take socio-economic development into account are largely missing.…”

Digital microwork as a livelihood strategy in a Namibian informal settlement

“…There have been some encouraging examples of platforms being used to enhance livelihoods . Crowdsourcing platforms have brought economic opportunities to resource-stricken areas in Pakistan, and workers have also formed informal unions and other networks to support each other (Malik et al, 2021;Wood et al, 2019). In China, there has been an emergence of crowdfarming companies that hire individuals on salary to complete tasks for the microwork platforms (Wang et al, 2020).…”

“…There have been initiatives by governments in several countries in the Global South, including Nigeria (Graham et al, 2017), Pakistan (Malik et al, 2021), and the Philippines (Soriano, 2021), to adopt microwork and other forms of the digital gig economy as a part of citizen livelihood initiatives. The driving thought has been the promise of microwork platforms to separate labor from location (Graham et al, 2017).…”

“…However, many of the concerns presented in Section 2.1 still remain relevant for government initiatives with microwork. These workers still face a power imbalance that is not in their favor (Malik et al, 2021;Soriano, 2021). Although different aspects of these initiatives might appear to be there to support the workers, they actually reinforce the current state (Soriano, 2021).…”