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Gig-jobs: stepping stones or dead ends?

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  • Hensvik, Lena
  • Adermon, Adrian

Abstract

How useful is work experience from the gig economy for labor market entrants searching for traditional wage jobs? We conducted a correspondence study in Sweden, comparing callback rates for recent high school graduates with (i) gig-experience, (ii) traditional experience, and (iii) unemployment history. We also study heterogeneous responses with respect to perceived foreign background. Our findings suggest that gig-experience is more valuable than unemployment, but less useful than traditional experience for majority applicants. Strikingly however, no form of labor market experience increases the callback rate for minority workers.

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  • Hensvik, Lena & Adermon, Adrian, 2020. "Gig-jobs: stepping stones or dead ends?," CEPR Discussion Papers 15420, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:15420
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ek, Simon & Hammarstedt, Mats & Skedinger, Per, 2021. "Low-Skilled Jobs, Language Proficiency and Refugee Integration: An Experimental Study," Working Paper Series 1398, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    3. Graetz, Georg, 2023. "Imperfect signals," Working Paper Series 2023:10, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    4. Mohd Daud, Siti Nurazira & Osman, Zaiton & Samsudin, Shamzaeffa & Phang, Ing Grace, 2024. "Adapting to the gig economy: Determinants of financial resilience among “Giggers”," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 756-771.
    5. Smruti Patre, 2023. "Gig Intentions in Management Students: Integrating JD-R in an Extended TPB Model," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 48(1), pages 76-97, February.
    6. Carreño Bustos, José Gabo, 2023. "Flexible Contracts as Business Cycle Stabilizers," Discussion Paper 2023-007, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    7. Karadja, Mounir & Sundberg, Anton, 2023. "The labor market impact of a taxi driver’s license," Working Paper Series 2023:6, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gig-jobs; Correspondence study; Discrimination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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