Since its introduction in the late 2000s, there has been growing interest in sharing economy platforms. To explain outcomes, scholars have taken two main approaches—institutionalism, which focuses on employment classification and precarious labor, and technological control via algorithms. Both predict relatively similar outcomes for workers.

This report outlines a set of principles to guide the ongoing debate about how to expand economic security for the many who cannot currently rely on a job-based system of benefits.

A growing number of American workers earn income outside of traditional employee-employer relationships through self-employment and business ownership. This paper draws on administrative tax records to provide a more complete picture of the self-employed, including how they differ from employees (which we define as workers receiving wages reported on Form W2) and how their numbers...

There are an estimated 67 million domestic workers globally, 80% of whom are women. Many of them work in low-paid, insecure and exploitative conditions. Technology-focused companies linking households to domestic workers through ‘on-demand’ platforms are attempting to disrupt the traditional sector, claiming to offer rapidly accessible, cheap domestic services to households, and flexible, well-remunerated economic...

Non-standard forms of employment (hereinafter “non-standard employment”, or “NSE”) have become a contemporary feature of labour markets around the world. Their overall importance has increased over the past few decades in both industrialized and developing countries, as their use has become more widespread across economic sectors and occupations.