Digital labour platforms as shock absorbers: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic in Mozambique

Jones, Sam and Manhique, Ivan (2025) Digital labour platforms as shock absorbers: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic in Mozambique. Journal of African Economies, 34 (1). 116 - 141. ISSN 0963-8024

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Abstract

Digital labour platforms have grown five-fold over the past decade, enabling significant expansion of gig work worldwide. We interrogate the critique that these platforms tend to amplify aggregate shocks for registered workers. Based on the universe of records from a matching platform for manual freelancers in Mozambique, we analyse how task supply and demand altered with the onset of COVID-19. Treating the pandemic as a structural break, which extends to an event study analysis, we find it was associated with a net increase in tasks demanded per worker, but no clear change in supply growth (new registrations). While these general trends are evident across multiple market segments, there is also evidence of relatively higher demand for female as compared to male workers during the pandemic. This suggests digital labour markets can help some workers adjust to economic shocks in low-income contexts.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	International Growth Centre
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
JEL classification:	J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Time Allocation, Work Behavior, and Employment Determination and Creation; Human Capital; Retirement > J23 - Employment Determination; Job Creation; Demand for Labor; Self-Employment J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J4 - Particular Labor Markets > J40 - General O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O17 - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements: Legal, Social, Economic, and Political
Date Deposited:	21 Jan 2025 16:51
Last Modified:	15 Feb 2025 18:27
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/126995

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