Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Algorithmic Control in the Global Gig Economy:

doi:10.1177/0950017018785616

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Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Algorithmic Control in the Global Gig Economy:

Journal Article•DOI•

Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Algorithmic Control in the Global Gig Economy:

Alex J. Wood¹, Mark Graham¹, Vili Lehdonvirta¹, Isis Hjorth¹•Institutions (1)

University of Oxford¹

01 Feb 2019-Work, Employment & Society (SAGE Publications)-Vol. 33, Iss: 1, pp 56-75

TL;DR: It is shown that algorithmic control is central to the operation of online labour platforms and can result in low pay, social isolation, working unsocial and irregular hours, overwork, sleep deprivation and exhaustion.

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Abstract: This article evaluates the job quality of work in the remote gig economy. Such work consists of the remote provision of a wide variety of digital services mediated by online labour platforms. Focusing on workers in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, the article draws on semi-structured interviews in six countries (N = 107) and a cross-regional survey (N = 679) to detail the manner in which remote gig work is shaped by platform-based algorithmic control. Despite varying country contexts and types of work, we show that algorithmic control is central to the operation of online labour platforms. Algorithmic management techniques tend to offer workers high levels of flexibility, autonomy, task variety and complexity. However, these mechanisms of control can also result in low pay, social isolation, working unsocial and irregular hours, overwork, sleep deprivation and exhaustion.

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Journal Article•DOI•

Algorithms at Work: The New Contested Terrain of Control

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Katherine C. Kellogg¹, Melissa Valentine², Angèle Christin²•Institutions (2)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology¹, Stanford University²

15 Jan 2020-The Academy of Management Annals

TL;DR: This work uses Edwards’ (1979) perspective of “conteste... to explore how algorithms may reshape organizational control in the rapidly changing environment.

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Abstract: The widespread implementation of algorithmic technologies in organizations prompts questions about how algorithms may reshape organizational control. We use Edwards’ (1979) perspective of “conteste...

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508 citations

Cites background from "Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Alg..."

...In such work-oriented online communities, workers have been shown to help each other learn new systems and practices, anticipate or avoid disciplinary processes, regain access when locked out of platforms, identify desirable clients or jobs, or learn how to smooth their earnings (Martin et al., 2014; Wood et al., 2019)....
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...Other scholars, too, have highlighted that some workers appreciate the high levels of flexibility, autonomy, task variety, and task complexity that algorithmic control can afford (Griesbach et al., 2019; Wood et al., 2019)....
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...…online communities, workers have been shown to help each other learn new systems and practices, anticipate or avoid disciplinary processes, regain access when locked out of platforms, identify desirable clients or jobs, or learn how to smooth their earnings (Martin et al., 2014; Wood et al., 2019)....
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...Finally, although platforms may afford workers high levels of flexibility, autonomy, and task variety, these benefits are often coupled with low pay, social isolation, irregular work hours, and exhaustion (Wood et al., 2019)....
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Journal Article•

Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s

[...]

Laura Dresser

01 Jan 2012-Industrial and Labor Relations Review

312 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Online Labour Index: Measuring the Online Gig Economy for Policy and Research

[...]

Otto Kässi¹, Vili Lehdonvirta¹•Institutions (1)

University of Oxford¹

01 Dec 2018-Technological Forecasting and Social Change

TL;DR: The Online Labour Index (OLI) as discussed by the authors is a data repository for the data underlying the online labour index, which is used by the International Organization of Industrial Relations (IOLR).

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268 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Algorithmic management and app-work in the gig economy: A research agenda for employment relations and HRM

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James Duggan¹, Ultan Sherman¹, Ronan Carbery¹, Anthony McDonnell¹•Institutions (1)

University College Cork¹

01 Jan 2020-Human Resource Management Journal

246 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Flexible employment relationships and careers in times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Daniel Spurk¹, Caroline Straub²•Institutions (2)

University of Bern¹, Bern University of Applied Sciences²

01 Jun 2020-Journal of Vocational Behavior

TL;DR: How the work and careers of individuals in flexible employment relationships might get affected by the COVID-19 pandemic is discussed and how the pandemic can contribute to the ramification of flexible Employment relationships is outlined.

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238 citations

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References

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Journal Article•DOI•

Constructing grounded theory : A practical guide through qualitative analysis

[...]

Eva Brink, Lotta Dellve, Ulrika Hallberg, Kajsa H Abrahamsson, Gunilla Klingberg, Kerstin Wentz - Show less +2 more

09 Jan 2006-International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being

TL;DR: Charmaz as mentioned in this paper presented a practical guide through qualitative analysis to construct grounded theory, using qualitative analysis, and showed that qualitative analysis can be used to understand grounded theory in a practical way.

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Abstract: BOOK REVIEW: Constructing grounded theory. A practical guide through qualitative analysis Kathy Charmaz, 2006, 208 pp. London: Sage. ISBN 2005928035

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11,206 citations

"Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Alg..." refers methods in this paper

...Focused coding was then employed to highlight the most common and revealing initial codes and to merge appropriate initial codes into new higher level codes, as suggested by Charmaz (2006)....
[...]

Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis

[...]

ชวิตรา ตันติมาลา

20 Jan 2017

TL;DR: The Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis as mentioned in this paper, a practical guide through qualitative analysis through quantitative analysis, is a good starting point for such a study.

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Abstract: การวจยเชงคณภาพ เปนเครองมอสำคญอยางหนงสำหรบทำความเขาใจสงคมและพฤตกรรมมนษย การวจยแบบการสรางทฤษฎจากขอมล กเปนหนงในหลายระเบยบวธการวจยเชงคณภาพทกำลงไดรบความสนใจ และเปนทนยมเพมสงขนเรอยๆ จากนกวชาการ และนกวจยในสาขาสงคมศาสตร และศาสตรอนๆ เชน พฤตกรรมศาสตร สงคมวทยา สาธารณสขศาสตร พยาบาลศาสตร จตวทยาสงคม ศกษาศาสตร รฐศาสตร และสารสนเทศศกษา ดงนน หนงสอเรอง “ConstructingGrounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis” หรอ “การสรางทฤษฎจากขอมล:แนวทางการปฏบตผานการวเคราะหเชงคณภาพ” จะชวยใหผอานมความรความเขาใจถงพฒนาการของปฏบตการวจยแบบสรางทฤษฎจากขอมล ตลอดจนแนวทาง และกระบวนการปฏบตการวจยอยางเปนระบบ จงเปนหนงสอทควรคาแกการอานโดยเฉพาะนกวจยรนใหม เพอเปนแนวทางในการนำความรความเขาใจไประยกตในงานวจยของตน อกทงนกวจยผเชยวชาญสามารถอานเพอขยายมโนทศนดานวจยใหกวางขวางขน

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4,417 citations

"Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Alg..." refers methods in this paper

...Focused coding was then employed to highlight the most common and revealing initial codes and to merge appropriate initial codes into new higher level codes, as suggested by Charmaz (2006)....
[...]

Journal Article•DOI•

The Impact of Social Structure on Economic Outcomes

[...]

Mark Granovetter¹•Institutions (1)

Stanford University¹

01 Feb 2005-Journal of Economic Perspectives

TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss how social structures and social networks can affect economic outcomes like hiring, price, productivity, and innovation, focusing on Sociologists have developed core principles about the interactions of social structure, information, ability to punish or reward, and trust.

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Abstract: This chapter begins by reviewing some of the principles. Building on these, the chapter then discusses how social structures and social networks can affect economic outcomes like hiring, price, productivity, and innovation. It focuses on Sociologists have developed core principles about the interactions of social structure, information, ability to punish or reward, and trust that frequently recur in their analyses of political, economic, and other institutions. Thus, network structure can be partially endogenized in labor market analysis. However, there are also a range of alternatives, not commonly included in economic analysis, that work through social groups and create compliance in less intrusive ways. Many studies, comprehensively reviewed in Roger Myersons, show the powerful impact of social structure and networks on the extent and source of innovation and its diffusion. When people trade with others they know, the impact of knowing each other on the price varies with their relationship, the cost of shifting to different partners, and the market situation.

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2,493 citations

"Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Alg..." refers background in this paper

...’ Nevertheless, all economic exchanges require ‘systems of control’ (Granovetter, 2005; Wood, 2017) and as Rosenblat and Stark (2016: 3772) argue, ‘digital spaces facilitate and scaffold new systems of monitoring and opportunities for remote control over workers....
[...]
...Nevertheless, all economic exchanges require ‘systems of control’ (Granovetter, 2005; Wood, 2017) and as Rosenblat and Stark (2016: 3772) argue, ‘digital spaces facilitate and scaffold new systems of monitoring and opportunities for remote control over workers.’...
[...]

Book•

Employment and Unemployment: A Social-Psychological Analysis

[...]

Marie Jahoda

30 Dec 1982

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the social and psychological consequences of unemployment in the nineteen-thirties and the early nineteen-eighties, and discuss how employment can be humanised.

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Abstract: Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. Definitions and their implications 3. Social and psychological consequences of unemployment in the nineteen-thirties 4. Employment and unemployment in the nineteen-eighties 5. Can employment be humanised? 6. Looking back and looking ahead References Indexes.

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1,345 citations

"Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Alg..." refers background in this paper

...The importance of the social contact provided by paid work for mental health has long been recognised (Jahoda, 1982; Wood and Burchell, 2018)....
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...Agency ‘operates within possibilities, and constraints of social arrangements… in this sense we are both active and passive’ (Jahoda, 1982: 28)....
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Monograph•DOI•

Forces of labor : workers' movements and globalization since 1870

[...]

Beverly J. Silver¹•Institutions (1)

Johns Hopkins University¹

21 Apr 2003-Labour/Le Travail

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show how the main sites of labor unrest have shifted over time together with the rise/decline of new leading sectors of capitalist development, and demonstrate that labor movements have been deeply embedded (as both cause and effect) in world political dynamics.

...read moreread less

Abstract: Recasting labor studies in a long-term and global framework, this 2003 book draws on a major database on world labor unrest to show how local labor movements have been related to world-scale political, economic and social processes since the late-nineteenth century. Through an in-depth empirical analysis of select global industries it demonstrates how the main locations of labor unrest have shifted from country to country together with shifts in the geographical location of production. It shows how the main sites of labor unrest have shifted over time together with the rise/decline of new leading sectors of capitalist development, and demonstrates that labor movements have been deeply embedded (as both cause and effect) in world political dynamics. The book concludes by exploring the likely forms that emergent labor movements will take in the twenty-first century.

...read moreread less

1,060 citations