Disconnecting labour: The impact of intraplatform algorithmic changes on the labour process and workers' capacity to organise collectively

This article examines how gig economy platform companies, via algorithmic management, shape working conditions and collective organisation of food delivery couriers. Using qualitative data from one case study operating in a city in the United Kingdom, the study captures real-time intraplatform unilateral changes in algorithmic management to provide increased flexibility for couriers. Findings show algorithmic changes generating a reconfigured, fragmented and compliant workforce. As a result, couriers demonstrate different interests and motivations to work for the company, where disparities in the demands for improved working conditions hindered efforts for collective organising. This article argues that intraplatform algorithmic changes create affordances that companies can exploit to concentrate power over labour even when conceding some control over the labour process.     

The gender pay platform gap during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of platform gender segregation in Australia

Progress towards pay equity between men and women in the Australian economy stalled during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting once again the gendered impact of the pandemic. However, little is known about the impact of the pandemic on the gender pay gap in the platform economy. Drawing on data from an Australian survey of platform workers (n = 947) during the early months of the pandemic (2020), this research investigates how the pandemic impacted the gender pay gap across different platform types—care, delivery and driving, microwork, and marketplace—and the platform economy overall. The findings show that the gendered segregated nature of platform work compounded by the uneven impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on particular types of platform work increased the pay gap between men and women. This research also sought to examine the mechanisms behind the gender pay gap, finding that human capital differences and platform gender segregation largely explain the gender pay gap on platforms in Australia. There was an association between parenthood and earnings, but this is moderated by human capital and platform type, suggesting that differences in earnings amongst parents are explained by these factors. The research finds that the gender gap across the platform economy increased by five percentage points, indicating that the gendered impact of the COVID-19 pandemic also affected the platform economy.     

Algorithmic management in food-delivery platform economy in China

This article investigates the organisation of work under algorithmic control in the platform economy. Based on a 1-year ethnographic study conducted at top food-delivery platforms in China, this study finds two main mechanisms for organising labour under algorithmic management: the virtual organisation of labour and algorithm-driven labour process control. First, platform drivers are reorganised in an outsourced labour force, placed in application-based virtual-networked production under sophisticated technological infrastructure. Second, to habituate drivers to the virtual mode of production, food-delivery platforms utilise four algorithm-driven control techniques, which are identified as: smart machinery control, information monopoly, management by multi-stakeholders, and ‘carrots and sticks’. The findings highlight the process of algorithmic design in configuring a digital managerial ecosystem for platform governance and contribute to emerging debates on algorithmic management.     

Divided we fall: The breakdown of gig worker solidarity in online communities

The ‘gig economy’ presents a contested new work arrangement where freelancers find work on digital platforms. Subsequently, previous research has investigated how gig workers develop solidarity and take collective action against the exploitative practices of the platforms. However, this research is limited by mostly focusing on solidarity in contexts of local gig worker communities. We investigate whether freelancers who work on a global platform, Upwork, which hires people for diverse and complex jobs, can build up solidarity in a global online community. Applying a mixed-methods research design, we analysed how gig workers responded to a policy change by Upwork that affected their working conditions negatively. In doing so, we outline how solidarity breaks down in an online community of gig workers, due to them realising different interests and identities. We contribute to recent discussions on solidarity in the gig economy, and online communities as tools for organising.     

Actions in phygital space: Work solidarity and collective action among app-based cab drivers in India

This study delineates the microprocesses of solidarity development and the subsequent collective actions of gig workers in India amidst multiple structural constraints. Using netnography, semi-structured interviews and direct observation, we show how digitally naive app-based cab drivers amalgamate physical and digital spaces, construct a phygital space free of managerial gaze and leverage it to bond and bridge, create webs of care and share and resist multiple oppressive forces, individually and collectively. Thus, we broaden the conceptualisation of worker agency beyond labour-management antagonism and extend the extant literature on solidarity development and resistance in gig work by identifying a spatial enabler, phygital free space and the expansive role of relationship-based commitment. Relationship-based commitment not only functions as a membership mobiliser but also helps mobilise collective resistance when interwoven with an external threat-based identity created through injustice framing.     

Microtargeting control: Explicating algorithmic control and nudges in platform‐mediated cab driving in India

We discuss algorithmic control and nudges prevalent in the gig economy in relation to extant management control literature. We draw on an analysis of archival data and interviews with drivers and executives of app‐based cab companies in India. Comparing algorithmic control with direct control, we explain the increase in the scale and scope of automation that enables detailed driver profiling and segmentation, which is crucial for microtargeting control mechanisms and controlling driver earnings. Explaining nudges vis‐a‐vis indirect control, we highlight the role of mental processes and clarify the labelling of control mechanisms as nudges. Furthermore, we show how nudges are interwoven into algorithmic control as they capitalise on and feed into it. We also substantiate the discussions on information asymmetry by explicating the calculative apparatus that underlies the asymmetry.     

Always on across time zones: Invisible schedules in the online gig economy

This study investigates work schedules in online labour markets, operating in 24/7 mode across spatial borders and time zones. Focusing on largely hidden and invisible work of freelancers such as searching for jobs and communicating with clients, the study documents how platforms put pressures and constraints on freelancers’ time through the mechanism of task allocation. We use data on 241,582 timestamped messages posted by 29,759 unique users in 4082 contests on a leading Russian‐language freelance platform to reveal how freelancers’ efforts to get a job make them work nonstandard hours, including evenings, nights and weekends. Freelancers have to be responsive and adapt their schedules to clients’ needs. Freelancers who live in time zones which differ from their clients are particularly disadvantaged, working a greater proportion of nonstandard hours. The findings emerging from the study contribute to current debates on the gig economy and a new time‐work discipline.     

In search of meaningful work on digital freelancing platforms: the case of design professionals

Growth of the platform economy has been accompanied by critiques of the fragmented, isolated and precarious nature of the employment it offers. Yet, little is known about how creative freelancers perceive the meaning of work on the platforms. Based on 40 interviews with freelancers, clients, platform owners and industry experts, this paper reveals that most freelancers are concerned about how operating through the platform, and their dependence on it, is undermining the meaningfulness of their work. Freelancers find that the platforms are eroding both the manifest (i.e. monetary) and latent (i.e. non‐monetary) meaning of their work although they are mostly concerned about the latent element of meaning. The analysis reveals that the small group of freelancers who pursue meaningful work and earn a sustainable income on platforms are those with strong entrepreneurial orientation.     

Fear and hope in an age of mass automation: debating the future of work

Alternative perspectives from economics and political economy now agree that work is set to disappear through the impact of mass automation. Some worry about the negative effects on unemployment and inequality, while others see the opportunity to extend free time. This paper confronts and criticises these perspectives. It addresses previous visions of an automated (‘workless’) future presented by Marx and Keynes and shows the enduring barriers to working less in capitalist society. It then questions whether work will be reduced by technological progress; rather, it argues that work will likely persist, despite and indeed because of the wider use of new technology. The threat to workers from technology is seen to come more from the erosion in the quality of work than from the loss of work. The paper argues that a better future for work and workers ultimately depends on broader changes in ownership.     

The role of trust-building mechanisms in entering into network coopetition: The case of tourism networks in Poland

While dyadic coopetition drivers have been explored in a number of studies, network coopetition has not received similar attention. Available studies tackle network coopetition from the central actor's perspective, leaving other members beyond the scope of attention. In this study, we aim to develop the understanding of network coopetition adherence by exploring the role of trust-building mechanisms. Interviews with 66 key stakeholders in a mountain tourism destination have been analysed through the lens of the five trust-building mechanisms. Our findings indicate that transference by third-party legitimization and reputation in the network play a vital role in the decision to enter into network coopetition. Inversely, calculative, capability-based and intention-based trust are shown to be difficult to develop and are rarely used. This paper discusses the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings on network coopetition formation.     

Mapping themes in the study of new work practices

Both shaping and shaped by technological, economic and social facets, the world of work has witnessed a wide array of changes. This review article sets out to provide a synthesis of some of the main directions and insights of existing research connected to the new world of work. In particular, we approached the topic of new work practices through four key dimensions: (1) Conceptual and methodological dimensions in the study of new work practices; (2) Spatial and temporal manifestations of new work practices in the collaborative economy; (3) Individuals, organizations and new work configurations; (4) Power and control. The review article critically discusses the future of work and argues that the ‘new’ world of work simply repeats asymmetrical power relations and inequalities that characterise work activities, with the potential of exacerbating even further disparities, inequalities and precarity.     

Competition and termination of the alliances between asymmetric partners: The case of Japanese department stores

To enrich the literature on alliance termination, we recognize that the dynamics of individual alliances are subject to the structural characteristics of the alliance portfolios in which they are embedded. We anchor our study in the context of large industry leaders partnering with multiple small partners, the latter of which can be viewed as competing for access to the formers’ resources. We expect that a small partner’s relative capability in relation to peer partners within a leader’s alliance portfolio is negatively related to the likelihood of alliance termination, since the leader acknowledges that partners with inferior capability do not deserve to be supported. Furthermore, this relationship would be moderated by alliance portfolio size, market overlap with peer partners, and with industry leaders. Using a unique dataset of 145 alliances between leading and small department stores in Japan in the period 1977-93, we found general support for the hypothesized relationships.     

Platform couriers' self-exploitation: The case study of Glovo

This article examines the phenomenon of self-exploitation among platform couriers, using the company Glovo as a case study. The research, based on a qualitative approach with interviews from 22 different stakeholders, highlights the ways in which precarity, entrepreneurial subjectivity, and gamification intersect to create what are referred to as postdisciplinary control mechanisms. These mechanisms shift the locus of exploitation from the employer to the workers' inner selves, which are compelled to follow implicit guidelines due to their precarious situation. The use of algorithmic management by platform companies like Glovo plays a major role in this architecture marked by overwork, exposure to hazardous conditions, and economic dependence. The article urges policymakers to look beyond platform workers' employment status debate and address the design of algorithms and broader forms of labour precarity, so that policies that successfully improve workers' experience are designed.     

How pastoralists perceive and respond to market opportunities: The case of the Horn of Africa

This article examines how pastoralists of the Horn of Africa negotiate the need for herd mobility (production) under conditions of variable rainfall and grazing conditions, with the necessity to market animals at fixed market locations. It addresses a set of related questions: (1) are herder mobility and other production decisions being altered by improved market opportunities; (2) what roles do markets play in pastoralist drought and drought recovery strategies; (3) which groups of producers are taking advantage of and/or benefiting from which market chains; and (4) what factors other than price help to explain why and when pastoralists sell livestock? The article concludes that macro-economic forecasts about supply response in the region may be overly optimistic and off target, because they fail to appreciate the non-price factors that influence pastoralist households’ decisions to sell livestock.     

The role of institutional arbitrage in the search for product innovation: Firm level evidence from Norway

Evolutionary theorizing conceptualizes the discovery of new products as a successful outcome from searching for innovation in which firms combine new and old knowledge and resources. Prior research has shown that the propensity for discovering new products is greatest when firms cross a technological and/or organizational boundary in the search for new knowledge. In this paper, we add a new dimension to this literature: we examine whether, and to what extent, crossing a national boundary, as when firms use knowledge from network partners in foreign countries, influences the likelihood that firms will introduce new products into the market. Drawing on theorizing on institutional arbitrage in the literature on national innovation systems (NIS) and varieties of capitalism (VOC), we propose that companies that cross a national boundary in searching for innovation are significantly more likely to introduce new products. Detailed survey data on firms; data on their network partners, including their location; and regression analysis show that the use of knowledge from actors in foreign NIS has a positive influence on product innovation.     

The assignment of call option rights between partners in international joint ventures

We examine call option rights as a contractual clause in international joint ventures (IJVs) and propose that the assignment of the call option right in an IJV is determined by certain ex ante asymmetries between the partners. Results show that between the two partners in an IJV, the firm with greater complementarity with the venture and greater prior IJV experience is more likely to hold the call option right; in addition, the firm's contractual choice on the call option right and its ownership choice on a greater initial equity stake are substitutive. Our focus on explicit call options advances the real options theory of collaborative agreements, and our results also highlight that option rights be considered an important part of alliance design. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The multidimensional effect of financial development on trade in Africa: The role of the digital economy

The issue of how financial development affects international trade has gained much attention in the literature, both theoretical and empirical, without investigating the various transmission channels of financial development on international trade. Significantly, how the digital economy modulates the effects of financial development on trade remains unexplored. Our study addresses these research gaps using panel data from 47 African economies spanning 1990 to 2019. Our findings based on the dynamic system GMM approach show that the direct impacts of financial development and the digital economy have been crucial in driving international trade in Africa in the short and long runs. Second, in the short and long runs, the digital economy serves as a vital channel through which financial development has the most significant impact on trade in Africa. Third, the robustness checks by excluding countries endowed with natural resources in Africa provide robust evidence that digital technology and finance matter for trade. Further, the study discloses an important novelty in that the marginal effects on trade increase when financial development in Africa interacts with the digital economy. In light of these findings, we conclude that policy reforms should focus on policies that encourage the development of the digital economy and its use in the financial sector in Africa.     

National and corporate culture differences in international strategic alliances: Perceptions of Chinese partners

We consider the effect of national culture and corporate culture differences on the management of international strategic alliances (ISAs). Findings are based on the perceptions of a relatively large sample of Chinese partner firms in ISAs with foreign partners. We find that differences in national culture and corporate culture have contributed to a similar extent to differing views on ISA management. However, findings indicate that differences in national culture and corporate culture have a differential impact on aspects of ISA management. Perception of national culture and corporate culture differences and the contribution of those differences to differing views on the management of ISAs are greater in relatively younger ISAs compared with older ISAs. Managers in equity-based ISAs report fewer problems with culture related impediments to managing ISAs than managers in non-equity-based ISAs.

The evolution of a regulation system in agriculture : The Swedish case

When looking at the objectives and means of Swedish agricultural policy, it cannot be fully understood as a rational ends-and-means document. Other explanations should be sought as to the origin and structure of the policy. This paper aims to analyse the evolution of the Swedish agricultural policy since 1932 as an outcome of four major forces: rent-seeking behaviour; the political constellation in parliament; ideology, values and attitudes in society; and the economic situation.     

The importance of being first : The case of prescription drugs in Canada

There is a growing literature on the importance of being first, which suggests that where there is uncertainty about the product quality of late entrants' brands the pioneering brand will retain a competitive advantage. This is consistent with studies of the U.S. drug industry. Using Canadian data for the drug industry it is shown that eliminating quality differences is a necessary but not sufficient condition for late entrants to gain market share. In addition, price competition has to be stimulated. Under these conditions the late entrants have taken up to 100 percent of the pioneering brands market.