Towards an Institutional Theory of the Gig Economy: How national labour-market institutions influence workforce participation in, and regulation of, digital labour markets

The ‘gig economy’ - enabling the hiring of service workers via internet-based platforms - is revolutionizing traditional employment. With offer and demand of labour meeting online, the gig economy implies a genuine globalisation of work: Gig jobs are accessible for workers (or ‘taskers’) around the world. The socio-economic consequences are massive, ranging from increased work-autonomy to the possible erosion of labour standards. The latter is particularly acute, because gig work is not covered by traditional employment legislation. To enable a meaningful regulation, research about the gig economy is urgently needed – yet hardly existent. Interestingly, the opportunities and threats of the gig economy are perceived differently across countries. While the social partners in regulated economies highlight the erosion of labour standards, their counterparts in deregulated economies point to the opportunities of increased work-autonomy and job creation. Hence, research about gig work requires an institutionalist perspective. My project takes up this challenge by asking how national labour-market institutions influence (1) the participation of national workforces in the gig economy and (2) its regulation. I hypothesize (1) that the extent and types of gig work, and the motives for it, are institutionally conditioned. Similarly, I hypothesize (2) that the coverage and contents of regulatory proposals, drafted by the social partners, is influenced by labour-market institutions. Empirically, these hypotheses are tested (1) through a large-N survey of gig workers and (2) through semi-structured interviews with the social partners in seven Western economies. The contributions are fourfold: Theoretically, I develop a novel institutional theory about service-sector work in digital labour markets. Empirically, two databases are created on - hitherto underexplored - service-sector work. Methodologically, a multi-method approach enables both static and dynamic insights. Societally, I will share the findings with the Dutch social partners and Socio-Economic Council to facilitate gig-economy regulation in the Netherlands.