Beyond National Reach?: An Institutional Analysis of the High-Skill Online Gig Economy

Abstract

The advent of online platforms that match the supply and demand of flexible labour has been one of the most significant economic changes in the last decades. Especially the so-called “online” gig economy, where digitally transferable services are transacted, is often portrayed as a space where national institutions’ influence is circumvented, thereby creating equal but global competition based on universal institutions set by the platform. This dissertation examines that claim by looking at indirect influences of national institutions, going beyond the direct influence of regulations. As platforms circumvent regulations, this study focuses on the role of skill specialisation and training, and the value of educational credentials. By examining workers’ profiles, combined with their entire work history on the given platform, this dissertation provides some insights into the question: “To what extent and how do national institutions influence inequality between workers in the high-skill online gig economy in the Global North?”. Drawn on results from behaviour information, this dissertation argues that the influence of national institutions in the online gig economy is severely diminished but not gone. Especially the acquiring of educational credentials, which are accredited and legitimised by national institutions, still influences what kind of jobs a worker completes and how substantial the payment is. This means on the one hand, national institutional forces still possess some influence on this global labour market, but on the other hand that global inequalities are likely to persist.