Abstract
The competitive pressures of neoliberal economies have compelled employers to devolve responsibilities to contractors and subcontractors. The rise information technology platforms have significantly accelerated this trend over past decade. “Sharing economy” companies have such widespread adoption of neoliberalism’s industrial relations that a new moniker—“the Gig Economy”—has taken root. Although shareholders and consumers have benefited, middle-class jobs have been squeezed in the process. This paper uses Uber as a case study to discuss how Sharing Economy entities are merely the latest iteration of companies to enact the neoliberal playbook, including (a) (mis)classifying workers, (b) engaging in regime shopping, and (c) employing the most economically vulnerable, rather than giving rise to a new world of work altogether. The result is a crowding out of middle-class employment by precarious ‘gigs’ that lack legal protections and benefits.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abraham, K. (1988). Flexible staffing: Arrangements and employers’ short-term adjustment strategies. In R. A. Hart (Ed.), Employment, unemployment and labor utilization. Boston: Unwin Hyman.
Adams, D. (2017). What’s behind that argument the Uber CEO had with his driver. Boston Globe. March 1, 2017. https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/03/01/what-behind-that-argument-uber-ceo-had-with-his-driver/dcsuXVg1lozl22AT7TCuxN/story.html
Agrawal, N. (2017). Uber CEO pledges to ‘grow up’ after video shows him lashing out at a driver. Los Angeles Times. March 1, 2017. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-uber-ceo-fares-20170301-story.html
Alba, D. (2015). In California, Uber loses another round in driver debate. Wired Magazine. September 10, 2016. https://www.wired.com/2015/09/california-uber-loses-another-round-driver-debate/
Alba, D. (2016). Judge rejects Uber’s $100 million settlement with drivers. Wired Magazine. August 18, 2016. https://www.wired.com/2016/08/uber-settlement-rejected/
Autor, D., & Dorn, D. (2013). The growth of low-skill service jobs and the polarization of the US labor market. American Economic Review, 103(5), 1553–1597.
Baddarco, J. (1998). The changing form of the corporation. In J. Meyer & J. Gustafson (Eds.), The US business corporation: An institution in transition. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
Barron, M. (1999). Who’s an independent contractor? Who’s an employee? The Labor Lawyer, 14(3), 457–473.
Beck, U. (2000). The brave new world of work. Oxford: Blackwell.
Berger, T., Chen, C., & Frey, C. (2017). Drivers of disruption? Estimating the uber effect. University of Oxford: Oxford Martin School.
Berger, T., & Frey, C. (2016). Did the computer revolution shift the fortunes of us cities? Technology shocks and the geography of new jobs. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 57(C), 38–45.
Bogage, J. (2016). How much Uber drivers actually make per hour. Washington Post. June 27, 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/06/27/how-much-uber-drivers-actually-make-per-hour/?utm_term=.e6f5eb074c84
Bowman, S. (1996). The modern corporation and American political thought. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Boxall, P., & Haynes, P. (1997). Strategy and trade union effectiveness in a neo-liberal environment. Journal of Industrial Relations, 35(4), 567–591. doi:10.1111/1467-8543.00069.
Bray, M., & Underhill, E. (2009). Industry differences in the neoliberal transformation of Australian industrial relations. Industrial Relations Journal, 40(5), 372–392.
Bronfenbrenner, K. (2000). Uneasy terrain: The impact of capital mobility on workers, wages, and union organizing. Ithaca, NY. http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/reports/3/
Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016). Working in a gig economy. Career Outlooks. May 2016. https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2016/article/what-is-the-gig-economy.htm
Burns, J. (2017). Uber must pay $20M for luring drivers with inflated wage stats. Forbes. Jan. 27, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetwburns/2017/01/23/uber-must-pay-20m-for-luring-drivers-with-inflated-wage-stats/#2002c615191d
Butler, H. (1989). The contractual theory of the corporation. George Mason University Law Review, 11(4), 99–123.
Cahill, D. (2004). The radical neo-liberal movement as a hegemonic force in Australia, 1976-1996 (PhD Thesis). University of Wollongong.
Carré, F. (2015). (In)dependent contractor misclassification. Economic Policy Institute. Briefing Paper #403.
Carré, F., & Wilson, R. (2004). The social and economic costs of employee misclassification in construction (Massachusetts). Report of the Construction Policy Research Center, Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School, and Harvard School of Public Health. December.
Castells, M. (1989). The informational city (1st ed.). Oxford: B. Blackwell.
Castells, M. (2000). Materials for an exploratory theory of the network society. British Journal of Sociology, 51(1), 5–22.
Cockayne, D. (2016). Sharing and neoliberal discourse: The economic function of sharing in the digital on-demand economy. Geoforum, 77(December), 73–82.
Cohen, P., Hahn, R., Hall, J., Levitt, S., & Metcalfe, R. (2016). Using big data to estimate consumer surplus: The case of uber. Technical report, National Bureau of Economic Research.
Cohen, B., & Kietzmann, J. (2014). Ride On! Mobility business models for the sharing economy. Organization and Environment, 27(3), 279–296.
Cohen, S., & Zysman, J. (1987). Manufacturing matters (1st ed.). New York: Basic Books.
Cooke, P., & Morgan, K. (1991). The intelligent region. Cardiff: Regional Industrial Research.
Coolidge, S. (1996). Temping is now a career-with an upside for workers. The Christian Science Monitor. Oct. 7, 1996.
Cramer, J., & Krueger, A. (2016). Disruptive change in the taxi business: The case of uber. The American Economic Review, 106(5), 177–182.
Crouch, C. (2004). Postdemocracy. Cambridge: Polity.
Doogan, S. (2016). Uber halts Anchorage ride service after negotiations with city falter. Anchorage Daily News. Sept. 28, 2016. https://www.adn.com/business/article/no-more-free-rides-uber-pulls-out-anchorage/2015/03/06/
Eidelson, J. (2014). FedEx ground says its drivers are not employees. The courts will decide. BusinessWeek.com. October.
Eisenbrey, R., & Mishel, L. (2016). Uber business model does not justify a new ‘independent worker’ category. Economic Policy Institute. Posted March 17, 2016. Accessed January 21, 2017. http://www.epi.org/publication/uber-business-model-does-not-justify-a-new-independent-worker-category/
Espiner, T., & Thomas, D. (2016). What does Uber employment ruling mean? BBC News. Oct. 28, 2016. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37629628
Feeney, M. (2015). “Is Ridesharing Safe?” Policy Analysis. Washington, DC: Cato Institute.
Fraiberger, S., & Sundararajan, A. (2015). Peer-to-peer rental markets in the sharing economy. NYU Stern School of Business Research Paper. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2574337
Freelancers Union (2016). Freelancing in America: A National Survey of the New Workforce. Freelancers Union & Elance | oDesk. https://fu-web-storage-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/content/filer_public/7c/45/7c457488-0740-4bc4-ae45-0aa60daac531/freelancinginamerica_report.pdf
Garvin, G., & Hanks, D. (2015). Mayor Gimenez: Uber, Lyft will be legal in Miami-Dade by the End of Year. Miami Herald. Sep 28, 2015.
Hackworth, J. (2007). The neoliberal city. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Hall, J. V., & Krueger, A. (2015). An analysis of the labor market for Uber’s driver-partners in the United States. Princeton University Industrial Relations Section Working Paper, 587.
Hardin, C. (2014). Finding the “neo” in neoliberalism. Cultural Studies, 28(2), 199–221. Relations Journal, 40(5), pp. 372–392.
Harris, S., & Krueger, A. (2015). A proposal for modernizing labor laws for twenty-first-century. The “Independent Worker.” Hamilton Project, Discussion Paper.
Harvard Law Review (1997). Harvard law review (Vol. 111, pp. 1997–1998). Harvard Law Review Association.
Harvey, D. (2005). Brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hege, C. (2000). Independent contractors and the IRS: Still a concern for newspapers. Newspaper Financial Executives Quarterly; Fourth Quarter 2000.
Herzenberg, S., Alic, J., & Wial, H. (1998). New rules for a new economy: Employment and opportunity in post industrial America. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Hill, S. (2015). The ticking time bomb of Uber. Truthout. Dec. 22, 2015. http://www.truth-out.org/progressivepicks/item/34167-the-ticking-time-bomb-of-uber
Huet, E. (2014). Uber says it’s doing 1 million rides per day, 140 million in last year. Forbes. Dec. 17, 2014.
Huet, E. (2015). Uber’s Background Checks Failed To Catch A Murderer And Other Felons, Prosecutors Say. Forbes. Aug. 19, 2015. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2015/08/19/uber-background-check-lawsuit-convicted-felons-prosecutors/#23bb2d594c96
Hyman, R. (2001). European integration and industrial relations. A case of variable geometry? Antipode, 33(3), 468–483.
International Labour Organization (ILO) (2005). Thesaurus. www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ILO-Thesaurus/english/tr899.htm. Accessed 7 Sept 2009.
Intuit (2010). Intuit 2020 Report: 20 Trends that will shape the next decade. October 2010. https://http-download.intuit.com/http.intuit/CMO/intuit/futureofsmallbusiness/intuit_2020_report.pdf
Irani, L. (2015). Difference and dependence among digital workers: the case of Amazon Mechanical Turk. South Atlantic Q., 114(1), 225–234.
Isaac, M. (2017). How uber deceives the authorities worldwide. New York Times. March 3, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/technology/uber-greyball-program-evade-authorities.html
Jensen, M., & Meckling, W. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4), 305–360.
Kennedy, J. (2016). Three paths to update labor law for the Gig Economy. Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. April 2016. http://www2.itif.org/2016-labor-law-gig-economy.pdf
Koopman, C., Mitchell, M., & Thierer, A. (2015). The sharing economy and consumer protection regulation: The case for policy change. The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship, & The Law, 8(2), 530–540.
Kosoff, M. (2015). A look inside the insanely successful life of billionaire Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. Business Insider. July 6, 2015. http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-successful-life-of-billionaire-uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-2015-7/
Kosoff, M. (2016). Leaked documents show how much Uber drivers really make. Vanity Fair. June 23, 2016. http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/06/leaked-documents-reveal-how-much-uber-drivers-really-make
Lapowsky, I. (2015). Uber wins its battle against NYC’s mayor—For now. Wired Magazine. July 22, 2015. https://www.wired.com/2015/07/uber-wins-battle-nyc-mayor-now/
Larner, W. (2000). Neo-liberalism: Policy, Ideology, Governmentality. Studies in Political Economy, 63(1), 5–25.
Leberstein, S. (2016). Uber’s car leasing program turns its drivers into modern-day sharecroppers. Quartz. June 6, 2016. https://qz.com/700473/ubers-car-leasing-program-turns-its-drivers-into-modern-day-sharecroppers/
Lehdonvitra, V. (2016). Algorithms that divide and unite: delocalization, identity, and collective action in ‘microwork’. In J. Flecker (Ed.), Space, place, and global digital work. London: Palgrave-Macmillan.
Lillie, N., & Greer, I. (2007). Industrial relations, migration, and neoliberal politics: The case of the European construction sector. Politics and Society, 35(4), 551–581. doi:10.1177/0032329207308179.
Lopez, R. (2014). Southern California port truck drivers loading up on wage-theft cases. Los Angeles Times. July 4, 2014. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-port-truck-drivers-20140705-story.html
MacKenzie, R., & Forde, C. (2009). The rhetoric of the `good worker’ versus the realities of employers’ use and the experiences of migrant workers. Work, Employment & Society, 23(1), 142–159.
Markusen, A., Hall, P., & Glasmeier, A. (1986). High tech America (1st ed.). Boston: Allen & Unwin.
Martin, R. (2006). Making sense of the new economy? Realities, myths and geographies. In P. Daniels, A. Leyshon, M. Bradshaw, & J. Beaverstock (Eds.), Geographies of the new economy (pp. 15–48). London: Routledge.
May, J., Wills, J., Datta, K., et al. (2007). Keeping London working: Global cities, the British state and London’s new migrant division of labour. Transactions. Institute of British Geographers, 32(2), 151–167.
McClatchy, D. C. (2014). Contract to cheat. McClatchy DC website. Special report. Accessed January 21, 2017. http://media.mcclatchydc.com/static/features/Contract-to-cheat/
McDowell, L. (2009). Working bodies: Interactive service employment and workplace identities. Oxford: Blackwell.
McDowell, L., & Christopherson, S. (2009). Transforming work: New forms of employment and their regulation. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 2(3), 335–342. doi:10.1093/cjres/rsp024.
McKinsey Global Institute (2016). Independent work: Choice, necessity, and the Gig Economy. October 2016. http://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Global%20Themes/Employment%20and%20Growth/Independent%20work%20Choice%20necessity%20and%20the%20gig%20economy/Independent-Work-Choice-necessity-and-the-gig-economy-Full-report.ashx
Menz, G. (2001). The domestic determinants of national response strategies to EU-induced liberalization: Examining the regulation of wages for posted workers in Austria and Germany. Politique Européenne, 3(2), 137–165.
Mowery, D. (1988). International collaborative ventures in U.S. manufacturing. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Pub. Co.
Mytelka, L. (1990). Transfer and development of technology in the least developed countries. New York: United Nations.
Nicholson, J. (2015). Temporary help workers in the U.S. Labor Market. Department of Commerce. ESA Issue Brief # 03-15. Published July 1, 2015. http://www.esa.doc.gov/sites/default/files/temporary-help-workers-in-the-us-labor-market.pdf
Nomura, M. (1993). Toyotism. Kyoto: Minerva. (in Japanese).
Norup, D. (2016). FedEx delivers a $240 Million Settlement in IC Misclassification Lawsuits. http://www.talentwave.com/fedex-delivers-a-240-million-settlement-in-ic-misclassification-lawsuits/
O’Connor v. Uber Techs. (2015). No. 13-CV-03826-EMC, 2015 WL 8292006 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 9, 2015).
Ordonez, F., & Locke, M. (2014a). IRS’ ‘Safe Harbor’ Loophole Frustrates Those Fighting Labor Tax Cheats. McClatchy Washington Bureau. December 14, 2014.
Ordonez, F., & Locke, M. (2014b). Immigrants are most susceptible to worker misclassification. McClatchy Washington Bureau. September 5, 2014.
Pagliaro, J. (2014). City of Toronto seeks court injunction against Uber taxi services. Toronto Star. November 18, 2014.
Peck, J., & Theodore, N. (2002). Temped out? Industry rhetoric, labour regulation and economic restructuring in the temporary staffing industry. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 23(2), 143–175.
Perry, C. (1997). Outsourcing and union power. Journal of Labor Research, 18(4), 521–534.
Piore, M. (1979). Birds of passage: Migrant labor and industrial societies. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Piore, M., & Sabel, C. (1984). The second industrial divide. New York: Basic Books.
Plouffe, D. (2015). David Plouffe on Uber and the American Worker. Uber Newsroom. November 3, 2015. Accessed 21 Jan 2017. https://newsroom.uber.com/1776/
Polanyi, K. (1944). The great transformation: The political and economic origins of our time. New York: Rinehart.
Rabellotti, R., Carabelli, A., & Hirsch, G. (2007) Italian. SMEs and industrial districts on the move: Where are they going? Working Papers 115, SEMEQ Department, Faculty of Economics, University of Eastern Piedmont.
Reibstein, R. (2014). Earthquake in the independent contractor misclassification field: Changed landscape following serious legal blow to fedex ground by federal appellate court. Compliance and Misclassification Update. August 29.
Reibstein, R. (2016). $240 Million Settlement Closes Chapter on FedEx IC Misclassification Lawsuits. Independent Contractor and Misclassification Compliance. June 16, 2016. https://independentcontractorcompliance.com/2016/06/16/240-million-settlement-closes-chapter-on-fedex-ic-misclassification-lawsuits/
Reich, R. (1991). The work of nations. New York: Vintage.
Rindels, M. (2015). Uber and Lyft are now legal in Las Vegas, Sort Of. Skift Magazine, Associated Press. Sept. 15, 2016. https://skift.com/2015/09/15/uber-and-lyft-are-now-legal-in-las-vegas/
Rodriguez, N. (2004). “Workers wanted”: Employer recruitment of immigrant labor. Work and Occupations, 31(4), 453–473.
Rogers, B. (2016). Employment Rights in the platform economy: Getting back to basics. Harvard Law & Policy Review, 10(2016), 479–520.
Rugaber, C. (2015). Labor department tries to clarify hiring rules for Gig Economy. Inc.com. Accessed 21 Jan 2017. http://www.inc.com/associated-press/new-guidance-labor-department-employees-contractors.html
Saxenian, A. (1994). Regional advantage. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Scott, A., & Storper, M. (1987). High technology industry and regional development: A theoretical critique and reconstruction. International Social Science Journal, 112(1987), 215–232.
Smith, A. (2016). Labor platforms: Technology-enabled ‘gig work’. Pew Research Center. November 17, 2016. http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/17/labor-platforms-technology-enabled-gig-work/
Spicer, Z., & Eidelman, G. (2017). Global cities, local disruption: Uber’s road to regulatory approval in ten North American Cities. UAA Conference Paper. April 22, 2017.
Sporton, D. (2013). “They control my life”: The role of local recruitment agencies in East European migration to the UK. Population, Space and Place, 19(5), 443–458.
Streeck, W. (1992). National diversity, regime competition and institutional deadlock: Problems in forming a European Industrial Relations System. Journal of Public Policy, 12(04), 301. doi:10.1017/s0143814x00005596.
Tencer, D. (2016). What do Uber drivers earn? $4.60 an hour, montreal experiment concludes. Huffington Post Canada. Feb. 9, 2016. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/02/09/uber-driver-earn-4-60-per-hour_n_9194868.html
Thompson, P. (2003). Disconnected capitalism: Or, why employers can’t keep their side of the bargain. Work, Employment & Society, 17(2), 359–378.
Traxler, F., & Woitech, B. (2000). Transnational investment and national labour market regimes: A case of “Regime Shopping?”. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 6(2), 141–159.
Tsui, A. S., Pearce, J. L., Porter, L. W., & Hite, J. P. (1995). Choice of employee-organization relationship: Influence of external and internal organizational factors. In G. R. Ferris (Ed.), Research in Personnel and Human Resource Management (pp. 117–151). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
U.S. Department of Labor (2015). The Application of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “Suffer or Permit” Standard in the Identification of Employees Who Are Misclassified as Independent Contractors. Administrator’s Interpretation No. 2015-1. U.S. Department of Labor. Wage and Hour Division. https://www.dol.gov/whd/workers/Misclassification/AI-2015_1.pdf
Vizcaino v. Microsoft Corporation (1997). United States Court of Appeals. Ninth Circuit. No. 94-35770. Decided July 24, 1997.
Wee, H. (2016). Some 10,000 Uber, Lyft drivers in Austin not working after vote on fingerprinting. CNBC. May 9, 2016. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/09/some-10000-uber-lyft-drivers-in-austin-not-working-after-vote-on-fingerprinting.html
Weil, D. (2014). The fissured workplace: Why work became so bad for so many and what can be done to improve it. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Wood, S. (1993). The japanization of fordism. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 14(4), 535–555.
Wysocki, B. (1996). High tech nomads write new program for future work. Wall Street Journal. Al.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The author does not have any conflict of interest.
Human and animal rights
This research did not involve human subjects. This research did not involve any testing on animals.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zwick, A. Welcome to the Gig Economy: neoliberal industrial relations and the case of Uber. GeoJournal 83, 679–691 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-017-9793-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-017-9793-8