The feasibility of platform cooperatives in gig economy sectors

Project info

Project name
9.6 Gigs of their own: Can Platform Cooperatives of Gig Workers Become Resilient?
Work package
  • Work
Sustainability threat
  • Feedback Cycles
Challenge
  • Reconciling stakeholder interests

Study info

Description of Study
In view of the precarity and economic dependency of gig workers, platform cooperatives come into the picture as alternatives to investor-owned platforms. We develop a taxonomy of platform cooperatives along the dimensions of ownership of the platform and employment by the cooperative. Platform cooperatives are then examined as worker-run matchmaking platforms for gigs, by analysing their challenges, highlighting the difficulties to raise capital, take collective decisions, and gain institutional support. On the basis of a feasibility analysis, we conclude that the identified challenges can most likely be successfully overcome by platform co-ops that organise taxi rides and professional jobs, while it may prove much more difficult in food delivery, homecare and micro-tasking.
Study research question
To what extent can the emergent platform cooperatives be a feasible alternative to investor-owned platforms currently operating in the gig economy?
Collection provenance
  • External data
Collection methods
  • Archival
Personal data
No
External Source
Source description
Platform Co-op Directory
#PlatformCoop Directory
File formats
Data types
  • Structured
Languages
  • English
Coverage start
Coverage end
Spatial coverage
Europe
North-America
Collection period start
—
Collection period end
—

Variables

Unit
Unit description
Sample size
Sampling method
Organizations
Platform cooperatives
31
Sampling is based on specification of platform cooperatives as worker-run matchmaking platforms for gigs and drawn from two directories, supplemented by five cases via manual search
Hypothesis
Theory
Variable type
Variable name
Variable description
Other
Status
Active/failed
Other
Location
HQ city, country
Other
Link
Hyperlink to website
Discipline-specific operationalizations
Conflict of interest

Data packages

Publications

The feasibility of platform cooperatives in the gig economy

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcom.2022.100167 http://The%20feasibility%20of%20platform%20cooperatives%20in%20the%20gig%20economy
Journal of Co-operative Organization and Management

Documents

Filename
Description
Date

Ethics

Ethical assessment
No
Ethical committee