Work in the platform economy: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Purpose

With the increasing global popularity of the gig economy encompassing freelancers, online platform workers, self-employed, on-call workers and other temporary contractual workers, this study aims to review research focusing on the gig economy to explore the nuances of working in various alternative work arrangements. We aim to enhance the understanding of existing literature and highlight underexplored areas for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review of 258 studies based on gig economy and gig work was conducted. It follows systematic search criteria and SPAR-4-SLR protocols. The analysis uses different gig worker profiles given by Watson et al. (2021) to categorize studies, followed by thematic analysis to identify patterns in the literature.

Findings

Our analysis of studies on gig economy shows that the majority of existing literature is based on gig service providers. Within this literature subset, major areas of study are work conditions, financial conditions, emergence and role of collectives, the impact of algorithmic management and the impact of rise of the gig economy on entrepreneurship. There is little research focusing on gig goods providers, gig data providers, agency gig workers and traditional gig worker profiles. More focus is also needed on emerging markets and markets transitioning to the gig economy.

Originality/value

Differing from reviews that have attempted to define gig work and workers, we focus on literature on the lived experiences of gig workers. By reviewing studies on different gig worker profiles, we are able to highlight future research directions for pointed sample sets and comparative underexplored areas.