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Digital labour platforms as shock absorbers: Evidence from COVID-19

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  • Sam Jones
  • Ivan Manhique

Abstract

Digital labour platforms have grown five-fold over the last decade, enabling significant expansion in gig work worldwide. We interrogate the criticism that these platforms tend to amplify aggregate economic shocks for registered users (workers). Based on the universe of records from a matching platform for informal sector manual freelancers in Mozambique, we analyse how task supply and demand altered with the onset of COVID-19.

Suggested Citation

  • Sam Jones & Ivan Manhique, 2022. "Digital labour platforms as shock absorbers: Evidence from COVID-19," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2022-108, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2022-108
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    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2022-108-digital-labour-platforms-shock-absorbers-evidence-COVID-19.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    4. Manav Raj & Arun Sundararajan & Calum You, 2020. "COVID-19 and Digital Resilience: Evidence from Uber Eats," Papers 2006.07204, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2023.
    5. Bussolo,Maurizio & Kotia,Ananya & Sharma,Siddharth, 2021. "Workers at Risk : Panel Data Evidence on the COVID-19 Labor Market Crisis in India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9584, The World Bank.
    6. John J. Horton, 2021. "The Ruble Collapse in an Online Marketplace: Some Lessons for Market Designers," NBER Working Papers 28702, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Fezzi, Carlo & Fanghella, Valeria, 2021. "Tracking GDP in real-time using electricity market data: Insights from the first wave of COVID-19 across Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Digital platforms; Labour market; Shocks; Mozambique;
    All these keywords.

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