IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ilrrev/v74y2021i5p1202-1230.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Misclassification in Construction: The Original Gig Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Erlich

Abstract

The misclassification of employees as independent contractors has been the focus of recent attention as a result of the implementation of that employment model by ride-share and other gig employers. But the practice long predates the emergence of the gig economy, particularly in the construction industry. This article traces the history of misclassification in construction and the subsequent emergence of a cash-based underground system of compensation, which have lowered standards and been among the major causes of the decline of union density in the industry. In addition, the author examines the regulatory environment at the federal level, which has largely enabled misclassification as well as attempts by state agencies to adopt more aggressive enforcement policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Erlich, 2021. "Misclassification in Construction: The Original Gig Economy," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(5), pages 1202-1230, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:74:y:2021:i:5:p:1202-1230
    DOI: 10.1177/0019793920972321
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0019793920972321
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0019793920972321?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Janice Fine & Jennifer Gordon, 2010. "Strengthening Labor Standards Enforcement through Partnerships with Workers’ Organizations," Politics & Society, , vol. 38(4), pages 552-585, December.
    2. Steven G. Allen, 1994. "Developments in Collective Bargaining in Construction in the 1980s and 1990s," NBER Working Papers 4674, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Janice Fine & Michael Piore, 2021. "Introduction to a Special Issue on the New Labor Federalism," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(5), pages 1085-1102, October.
    2. Matthew Hinkel & Dale Belman, 2022. "Should prevailing wages prevail? Re‐examining the effect of prevailing wage laws on affordable housing construction costs," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(4), pages 761-783, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stephen Mustchin & Mathew Johnson & Marti Lopez‐Andreu, 2023. "Civil society organisations in and against the state: Advice, advocacy and activism on the margins of the labour market," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 117-131, March.
    2. Matthew Amengual & Janice Fine, 2017. "Co‐enforcing Labor standards: the unique contributions of state and worker organizations in Argentina and the United States," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(2), pages 129-142, June.
    3. Adam DK King, 2021. "A Feminist Political Economy Critique of ‘the Militant Minority’," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(3), pages 584-594, June.
    4. Sarah Dolfin & Nan Maxwell & Ankita Patnaik, "undated". "WHD Compliance Strategies: Directions for Future Research," Mathematica Policy Research Reports b7a5ca876e0b448f9b9c0850e, Mathematica Policy Research.
    5. Lan Li & Hsin-Chieh Kung & Fu-Sheng Tsai & Chih-Fang Liu & Kun-Hwa Lu, 2018. "Service Learning, Service Climate, and Service-Based Social Innovation for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-12, July.
    6. Nancy Plankey-Videla & Cynthia Luz Cisneros Franco, 2022. "“Lots of Time They Don’t Pay”: Understanding Wage-Theft and Resistance in Bryan, Texas through Critical Community-Engaged Research," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-33, February.
    7. Sarah Dolfin & Nan Maxwell & Alix Gould-Werth & Armando Yañez & Jonah Deutsch & Libby Hendrix, "undated". "Compliance Strategies Evaluation Literature and Database Review," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 92ddb450d98b4b128f4fd1442, Mathematica Policy Research.
    8. Jason Foster & Bob Barnetson & Jared Matsunaga-Turnbull, 2018. "Fear Factory: Retaliation and Rights Claiming in Alberta, Canada," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(2), pages 21582440187, June.
    9. Berliner, Daniel & Greenleaf, Anne & Lake, Milli & Noveck, Jennifer, 2015. "Building Capacity, Building Rights? State Capacity and Labor Rights in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 127-139.
    10. Tess Hardy, 2011. "Enrolling Non-State Actors to Improve Compliance with Minimum Employment Standards," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 22(3), pages 117-140, November.
    11. Ronconi, Lucas & Raphael, Steven, 2024. "Measuring Effective Labor Regulation in the Less Developed World: Recent Advances and Challenges Ahead," IZA Policy Papers 210, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. M. Anne Visser, 2017. "A floor to exploitation? Social economy organizations at the edge of a restructuring economy," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(5), pages 782-799, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:74:y:2021:i:5:p:1202-1230. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.