In search of an adequate European policy response to the platform economy

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Fabo ◽  
Jovana Karanovic ◽  
Katerina Dukova
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Job Creation ◽  
Policy Response ◽  
European Policy ◽  
Online Platforms ◽  
Platform Economy ◽  
Disadvantaged People

This article contributes to the debate on labour platforms (e.g. TaskRabbit, CoContest, ListMinut) by analysing the potential of such platforms. Although we see potential in online platforms in terms of job creation and providing opportunities to discouraged and disadvantaged people, we also address some of the challenges related to such work. Presenting empirical data, we argue that the current labour market and working conditions created by online platforms resemble 19th century laissez-faire. We thus call for the urgent creation of a regulatory framework taking into consideration the suggestions presented in our article.

scholarly journals Associations between labour market policies and work stressors

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
T Lunau ◽  
M Rigó
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Job Strain ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Psychosocial Work ◽  
Work Stressors ◽  
Labour Market Policies ◽  
Psychosocial Working Conditions ◽  
European Working

Abstract Background Many studies have shown that psychosocial work stressors have a negative impact on health. It is therefore important to understand how psychosocial work stressors can be reduced. First cross-sectional studies have shown that working conditions are influenced at the political level. With this study, we want to extend the existing studies by specifically looking at the longitudinal dimension and test if changing labour market policies are related to changes in psychosocial work stressors. Methods We used comparative longitudinal survey data from the European Working Conditions Survey (27 countries; years 2005, 2010, 2015). The measure of psychosocial work stressors is based on two established work stress models: job strain and effort-reward imbalance. To measure labour market policies we used information on active (ALMP) and passive labour market policies (PLMP). 64659 participants were eligible for the ERI analysis and 67114 participants for the analyses on job strain. Estimation results are provided by three-level multilevel regressions. Results An increase in ALMP investments lead to a decrease of ERI and therefore to an improvement in psychosocial working conditions. The analyses for the subcomponents showed that these results are mainly driven by reward: an increase in ALMP investments lead to an increase in rewards. We didn't find significant associations between ALMP and job strain and between a change in PLMP measures and the observed work stressors. Discussion The study extends current knowledge with longitudinal information by showing that an increase in ALMP lead to an increase in rewards and a decrease of ERI. These longitudinal analyses are more closely related to a causal interpretation than previous cross-country analyses. The findings of this study may have important policy implications. Our main result suggests that investments into ALMP can improve certain working conditions and therefore improve workers' health. Key messages Psychosocial work stressors have a negative impact on health. Investments into active labour market policies can improve psychosocial working conditions.

scholarly journals Junk news bubbles modelling the rise and fall of attention in online arenas

2021 ◽  
pp. 146144482097864
Author(s):  
Maria Castaldo ◽  
Tommaso Venturini ◽  
Paolo Frasca ◽  
Floriana Gargiulo
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Formal Description ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Online Platforms ◽  
Mathematical Exploration ◽  
Public Debates

In this article, we present a type of media disorder which we call ‘junk news bubbles’ and which derives from the effort invested by online platforms and their users to identify and circulate contents with rising popularity. Such emphasis on trending matters, we claim, can have two detrimental effects on public debates: first, it shortens the amount of time available to discuss each matter and second, it increases the ephemeral concentration of media attention. We provide a formal description of the dynamic of junk news bubbles, through a mathematical exploration of the famous ‘public arenas model’ developed by Hilgartner and Bosk in 1988. Our objective is to describe the dynamics of the junk news bubbles as precisely as possible to facilitate its further investigation with empirical data.

scholarly journals Recognition and Work in the Platform Economy: a Normative Reconstruction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Visser ◽  
Thomas C. Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Recognition Theory ◽  
Normative Reconstruction ◽  
Human Side ◽  
Platform Economy

AbstractThe rise of the platform economy in the past two decades (and neoliberal capitalist expansion and crises more in general), have on the whole negatively affected working conditions, leading to growing concerns about the “human side” of organizations. To address these concerns, the purpose of this paper is to apply Axel Honneth’s recognition theory and method of normative reconstruction to working conditions in the platform economy. The paper concludes that the ways in which platform organizations function constitutes a normative paradox, promising flexibility and autonomy while at the same time creating working conditions that undercut these promises. The paper ends with a critical discussion of Honneth’s approach, possible supplementing ideas and further lines of future research.

scholarly journals S[k]amtaler : Om etnografisk metode og forskerpositioner

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-98
Author(s):  
Stine Liv Johansen ◽  
Lone Koefoed Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Fan Culture ◽  
Ethnographic Methods ◽  
Media Ethnography ◽  
Private Lives ◽  
Online Platforms ◽  
Auto Ethnography ◽  
Being There ◽  
Random Times

Researching a phenomenon like the Norwegian TV-series SKAM further complicates the inside-outside notion already debated within ethnographic methods. With SKAM, the reception takes place in a multi-platform and always-on environment: the fan culture(s) happen(s) across several online platforms and the series makes use of a particular understanding of 'liveness' when it updates the story throughout the week, at random times, and on several platforms. This directly influences a researcher's positioning and modes of action. In this paper, we discuss the act of researching SKAM through analysing empirical data from our conversation on Messenger in which we—in the eight months it lasted—acted both as fans or viewers and as researchers aiming to understand SKAM's fandom. In this case of an continuously updating narrative that seems to happen in a parallel universe to our everyday life, what might 'being-there' entail for researchers?, we ask. The methodological perspectives thus discussed here relate to auto-ethnography as well as to media-ethnography, allowing us to discuss how SKAM was a phenomenon that interfered into our professional but definitely also into our private lives.

scholarly journals Social Exclusion in Older-Age and the European Pillar of Social Rights

2021 ◽  
pp. 421-431
Author(s):  
Maciej Kucharczyk
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Goods And Services

AbstractThe European Pillar of Social Rights is about delivering new and more effective rights for Europeans. It builds upon 20 key principles, structured around three categories: equal opportunities and access to the labour market; fair working conditions; and social protection and inclusion. Directly relevant to older people, the Pillar has the potential to address the multidimensionality of exclusion in later life from a rights-based perspective – for example, by enhancing the rights to quality and affordable health and long-term care, to adequate pensions to live in dignity, to age-friendly working conditions and an inclusive labour market, or to access goods and services. Despite these valuable elements, there remains significant uncertainly around how the Pillar will achieve this and what kind of implemental actions might emerge across member states. This chapter analyses the potential of the European Pillar to address social exclusion of older people in Europe, the challenges that might impede its efforts, and the measures necessary to overcome such challenges.

Exploring the Income of the Czech Entrepreneurs

2020 ◽  
pp. 86-96
Author(s):  
Ondřej Dvouletý
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Job Creation ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Age Group ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
European Survey ◽  
Employed Women

Although individuals mostly pursue an entrepreneurial career from non-economic reasons, it is also interesting to see how well they perform in their business financially. This book chapter exploits two recent waves (2010, 2015) of the European Survey on Working Conditions (EWCS) and compares earnings of the Czech self-employed, concerning characteristics including job creation, gender, age, education, and number of working hours. The obtained findings from paired t-tests and correlations show that Czech self-employed with employees (job creators) earn on average by 14.6% more when compared to solo self-employed. Gender-differences in earnings have also been found in the case of the Czech entrepreneurs. Solo self-employed women earn on average less when compared to males. The highest earnings were observed in the age group of 31-40 years, and self-employed with higher levels of education also earn, on average more. This book chapter contributes to the regional knowledge on entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic.

Per Achterbahn zum Sozialen Arbeitsmarkt. Zur Vorgeschichte des „Teilhabechancengesetzes“

2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (12) ◽  
pp. 797-824
Author(s):  
Matthias Knuth
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Participation ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Job Creation ◽  
Unemployed People ◽  
The Public ◽  
Labour Market Participation ◽  
New Instrument

Zusammenfassung Mit Beginn des Jahres 2019 wurde in Deutschland ein neues Instrument der arbeitsmarktpolitisch geförderten Beschäftigung für Langzeitarbeitslose eingeführt. Die „Teilhabe am Arbeitsmarkt“ steht in der Tradition eines 2008 eingeleiteten Paradigmenwechsels: Statt die Förderung auf Arbeiten zu beschränken, die „zusätzlich“ und „wettbewerbsneutral“ sind und im „öffentlichen Interesse“ liegen, kann der Lohnkostenzuschuss von jedem Arbeitgeber und für jede Art von Tätigkeiten in Anspruch genommen werden. Dieser Paradigmenwechsel, von dem man sich bessere Chancen des Übergangs in ungeförderte Beschäftigung verspricht, war lange umstritten und wurde von Vielen nicht verstanden. Es ist deshalb erstaunlich, dass er durch die Irrungen und Wirrungen zweier Instrumentenreformen erhalten blieb. Der Beitrag folgt diesem Prozess und zeichnet die Entwicklung der Positionen verschiedener Akteure nach. Abstract: Roller Coasting Towards a “Socially Inclusive Labour Market”. On the Background of Recent Legislation for the “Creation of New Opportunities for Long-Term Unemployed People on the Labour Market in General and on the Socially Inclusive Labour Market” As of 2019, Germany introduced a new instrument of direct job creation for long-term unemployed people. Called “Social participation through labour market participation”, the new instrument preserves the tradition of a paradigm shift initiated in 2008: Instead of restricting direct job creation to activities that are “additional”, “in the public interest” and “neutral in terms of effect on competition”, the wage subsidy can be used by any employer for any kind of activity. This is expected to provide better chances of transition into unsubsidized employment. This paradigm shift has for long remained contested or not properly understood by many. It is therefore astonishing that it survived the trials and tribulations of two rounds of instrument reform. The article tracks this process and delineates how the standpoints of various actors evolved.

scholarly journals Jobs, News and Reoffending after Incarceration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Galbiati ◽  
Aurélie Ouss ◽  
Arnaud Philippe
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Job Creation ◽  
Recidivism Rates ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Daily Data ◽  
Local Labour ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Reducing Recidivism ◽  
Former Inmates

Abstract We study how local labour market conditions and information about job availability affect recidivism after incarceration. We exploit daily variations in the quality of the labour market at the time of release from prison. We combine individual-level administrative data on former inmates in France to county-level daily data on new job vacancies, and on newspaper coverage of job creation and destruction. Our analysis provides two new findings. First, media coverage of job creation reduces recidivism, suggesting that policies promoting access to information about employment opportunities can contribute to reducing recidivism. Second, we show that there is heterogeneity in what kinds of jobs affect recidivism: in France, former inmates do not respond to overall job creation, but better opportunities in manufacturing jobs at release reduce recidivism rates.

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