Abstract:The ‘gig economy’ uses digital platforms to bypass many of the regular responsibilities and costs of employment. Ambiguity as to whether gig-economy workers are independent contractors, dependent contractors or employees allows the undermining of traditional labour standards governing minimum wages and other legislated employment conditions. Labour law and institutions need to catch up to the new reality of this form of work and develop new tools to protect and enhance minimum standards for workers in digital … Show more
“…This aspect of meaningful work is associated with task significance , which reflects a positive impact of one's work on others (Fried and Ferris, ; Rosso et al ., ). Clients’ feedback holds a lot of potential for designers to feel that their work is meaningful and appreciated (Graham et al ., ,; Minter, ).There are so many offers and from so many offers you just… someone picks you and you feel good! So for me [this platform] was mostly psychological; I mean it helped me to regain balance and confidence in my skills (Designer Diana, Spain/Romania).…”
Section: Where Is the Meaning On Platforms?mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This aspect of meaningful work is associated with task significance, which reflects a positive impact of one's work on others (Fried and Ferris, 1987;Rosso et al, 2010). Clients' feedback holds a lot of potential for designers to feel that their work is meaningful and appreciated (Graham et al, 2017a(Graham et al, ,2017bMinter, 2017).…”
Section: Manifest Versus Latent Meaning-i Choose Platforms Because Imentioning
Growth of the platform economy has been accompanied by critiques of the fragmented, isolated and precarious nature of the employment it offers. Yet, little is known about how creative freelancers perceive the meaning of work on the platforms. Based on 40 interviews with freelancers, clients, platform owners and industry experts, this paper reveals that most freelancers are concerned about how operating through the platform, and their dependence on it, is undermining the meaningfulness of their work. Freelancers find that the platforms are eroding both the manifest (i.e. monetary) and latent (i.e. non‐monetary) meaning of their work although they are mostly concerned about the latent element of meaning. The analysis reveals that the small group of freelancers who pursue meaningful work and earn a sustainable income on platforms are those with strong entrepreneurial orientation.
“…This aspect of meaningful work is associated with task significance , which reflects a positive impact of one's work on others (Fried and Ferris, ; Rosso et al ., ). Clients’ feedback holds a lot of potential for designers to feel that their work is meaningful and appreciated (Graham et al ., ,; Minter, ).There are so many offers and from so many offers you just… someone picks you and you feel good! So for me [this platform] was mostly psychological; I mean it helped me to regain balance and confidence in my skills (Designer Diana, Spain/Romania).…”
Section: Where Is the Meaning On Platforms?mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This aspect of meaningful work is associated with task significance, which reflects a positive impact of one's work on others (Fried and Ferris, 1987;Rosso et al, 2010). Clients' feedback holds a lot of potential for designers to feel that their work is meaningful and appreciated (Graham et al, 2017a(Graham et al, ,2017bMinter, 2017).…”
Section: Manifest Versus Latent Meaning-i Choose Platforms Because Imentioning
Growth of the platform economy has been accompanied by critiques of the fragmented, isolated and precarious nature of the employment it offers. Yet, little is known about how creative freelancers perceive the meaning of work on the platforms. Based on 40 interviews with freelancers, clients, platform owners and industry experts, this paper reveals that most freelancers are concerned about how operating through the platform, and their dependence on it, is undermining the meaningfulness of their work. Freelancers find that the platforms are eroding both the manifest (i.e. monetary) and latent (i.e. non‐monetary) meaning of their work although they are mostly concerned about the latent element of meaning. The analysis reveals that the small group of freelancers who pursue meaningful work and earn a sustainable income on platforms are those with strong entrepreneurial orientation.
“…Chen, in chapter 10, offers an illustration of successful resistance in her case study of taxi drivers in China who have used the very technologies to mount resistance and try to reclaim some level of control over their own work. Second, is the difficulty of organising constantly mobile “gig’ workers” whose work “is often scattered across large areas” (Moore et al ., p. 31); a challenge that is also prominently noted in industrial relations literature (De Stefano, ; Minter, ).…”
“…22.7% [35][36][37] Institution and governance system Proposals for implementation of regulation and laws; analysis of matters of ethics and labor; discussion on asymmetric power relationships 18.7% [38][39][40]…”
The sharing economy is an emerging niche for innovation capable of disrupting established socio-technical and economic regimes. Because of this potential to cause radical changes in a wide array of domains, research in multiple disciplines addressing various aspects entailing this phenomenon is proliferating. In this emerging body of literature, the understanding and framing of the sharing economy are often different. Without knowledge about the current state of the research related to the sharing economy, delineating research trends, gaps, and needs for directing effectively primary research are not possible. This study aimed to synthesize the state and distribution of existing publications related to the sharing economy in multiple disciplines. We used the systematic mapping technique to scope, identify, and classify the publications at a fine level of granularity. We reviewed 589 journal articles (published from 1978 to 2017), and 454 met the selection criteria. The journal articles reviewed were published in 284 different journals. Intriguingly, 15 journals published five to 13 publications each and 221 journals had a single article about the topic. Journals belonging to the subject areas "business, management and accounting" (42.1%) and "social sciences" (35.2%) published more than 70% of the reviewed publications. Accommodation (19.8%) and car and ridesharing (17.2%) were the two most prominent sectors; 50.2% of the publications addressed C2C transactions (10.6% B2C, 24.4% more than one type); 62.3% were about accessing resources, and 5.1% concerned transfer of ownership (i.e., second-hand or donation); and 19.2% covered access and transfer of ownership simultaneously. While empirical studies were the majority (53.1%, when comparing with conceptual ones), qualitative approaches were most common (51.5% against 24.9% quantitative and 17.4% mixed methods). Literature review (22.9%), survey (13.2%), case study (7.3%) and interview (7%) were the most frequently used methods. User behavior (26.4%), business models and organizational aspects (22.7%), institution and governance system (18.7%), conceptualization matters (17%), and sustainability evaluation (15.3%) are research clusters identified from a grounded approach. The link between user behavior and net environmental impacts of sharing options was the largest gap found in the research needing attention from a sustainability perspective. Accordingly, multidisciplinary investigations quantifying behavioral root causes, magnitude, and likelihood of environmental rebound effects using real-world data are strongly encouraged.
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