Who benefits from online gig economy platforms?

Stanton, Christopher and Thomas, Catherine ORCID: 0000-0002-7783-9758 (2024) Who benefits from online gig economy platforms? American Economic Review. ISSN 0002-8282 (In Press)

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Abstract

Online labor platforms for short-term, remote work have many more job seekers than available jobs. Despite their relative abundance, workers capture a substantial share of the surplus from transactions. We draw this conclusion from demand estimates that imply workers' wages include significant markups over costs and a survey that validates our surplus estimates. Workers retain a significant share of the surplus because demand-side search frictions and worker differentiation reduce direct competition. Finally, we show that applying traditional employment regulations to online gig economy platforms would lower job posting and hiring rates, reducing aggregate surplus for all market participants, including workers.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024
Divisions:	Management Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Date Deposited:	13 Dec 2024 13:12
Last Modified:	13 Dec 2024 13:12
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/126348

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