Digitalization and the use of algorithms have raised concerns regarding the future of work; the gig economy being identified by some as particularly concerning. Yet academic research is inconsistent as to whether this sector constitutes precarious work. We attempt to reconcile contrasting existing accounts by developing a new model for gig economy precarity. In doing so we draw on 81 interviews in addition to participant observations to highlight the role of platform reputation in shaping experiences of traditional socio-economic insecurity. We also demonstrate that gig economy platforms produce a novel form of insecurity, which we term, ‘algorithmic insecurity’. This relates to the vulnerability and fear that workers experience as a result of working in an unstable and opaque environment in which platforms use customer-generated ratings to score workers, and algorithms to amplify the consequences of those scores. We also detail how workers respond to this capricious environment through unpaid labor, digital communities, and individual resistance. The aim of this qualitative research is to generate a model that can be tested quantitatively, as a first step towards this aim we draw on European survey data to provide tentative support for the existence of algorithmic insecurity beyond our interview participants.
{"title":"Platform Precarity: Surviving Algorithmic Insecurity in the Gig Economy","authors":"A. Wood, V. Lehdonvirta","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3795375","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3795375","url":null,"abstract":"Digitalization and the use of algorithms have raised concerns regarding the future of work; the gig economy being identified by some as particularly concerning. Yet academic research is inconsistent as to whether this sector constitutes precarious work. We attempt to reconcile contrasting existing accounts by developing a new model for gig economy precarity. In doing so we draw on 81 interviews in addition to participant observations to highlight the role of platform reputation in shaping experiences of traditional socio-economic insecurity. We also demonstrate that gig economy platforms produce a novel form of insecurity, which we term, ‘algorithmic insecurity’. This relates to the vulnerability and fear that workers experience as a result of working in an unstable and opaque environment in which platforms use customer-generated ratings to score workers, and algorithms to amplify the consequences of those scores. We also detail how workers respond to this capricious environment through unpaid labor, digital communities, and individual resistance. The aim of this qualitative research is to generate a model that can be tested quantitatively, as a first step towards this aim we draw on European survey data to provide tentative support for the existence of algorithmic insecurity beyond our interview participants.","PeriodicalId":175666,"journal":{"name":"Sociology eJournal","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125265985","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ketty Bwambale, D. Vargas, E. Baltazar, Ponciano Cuaresma
Generally, the study aimed to determine the effects of CDM’s microfinance services on clients’ socio-economic status. This study covered 50 clients. These were selected through a simple random sampling method from a list of active and inactive beneficiaries of Community Development Micro-credit (CDM) finance company implemented by Francis Atuhaire in Busika, Kalagala sub-county, Luwero district, Uganda. Using the Input - Process - Effect Model (IPE) of Weiss (1972) modified to suit the purpose of this research, where the qualitative and descriptive design was adopted. More than half of the respondents (56%) were male. With the mean age of 36. The majority were (66%) married, while, 72.0 percent were engaged in the non-business occupation. Clients have agreed that their attitude towards debt does not affect them on acquiring loans from CDM with the highest mean of 4.10 of highly favorable description clients value debt as an important thing which should be paid back and with an overall mean of 3.72. CDM services which include: loan amount, collateral interest rate loan period, and capability building, the findings of the study have indicated with the overall mean of 3.65 that CDM finance services have increased clients’ income and also helped them to provide with the needs to their families. The study revealed the highest mean of 3.56 indicating that the system of group security for clients in accessing loans is difficult to comply with, and with an overall mean of 3.25 clients rated the demand of collateral fair.It was observed that loans give clients the opportunity to be able to provide for their families, this was revealed with the highest mean score of 3.96 and the overall mean of 3.81 with a description of agreement that they have achieved for their family basic needs and they have become more stable than before. There is an effect on health. At least some clients have been able to visit the health center because of the benefits from the company though they don’t have savings for emergencies. The study found out that age and education attainment is very important characteristics of the clients as a key in the successful loaning scheme. Mature people are more knowledgeable in terms of the experience of acquiring loans and they participate better in training and seminars conducted by CDM.
{"title":"Effects of Microfinance Services on Clients’ Socio-Economic Status: A Case of Community Development Microcredit Finance Company Limited (Cdm) in Busika, Kalagala, Luwero District, Uganda","authors":"Ketty Bwambale, D. Vargas, E. Baltazar, Ponciano Cuaresma","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3785831","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3785831","url":null,"abstract":"Generally, the study aimed to determine the effects of CDM’s microfinance services on clients’ socio-economic status. This study covered 50 clients. These were selected through a simple random sampling method from a list of active and inactive beneficiaries of Community Development Micro-credit (CDM) finance company implemented by Francis Atuhaire in Busika, Kalagala sub-county, Luwero district, Uganda. Using the Input - Process - Effect Model (IPE) of Weiss (1972) modified to suit the purpose of this research, where the qualitative and descriptive design was adopted. More than half of the respondents (56%) were male. With the mean age of 36. The majority were (66%) married, while, 72.0 percent were engaged in the non-business occupation. Clients have agreed that their attitude towards debt does not affect them on acquiring loans from CDM with the highest mean of 4.10 of highly favorable description clients value debt as an important thing which should be paid back and with an overall mean of 3.72. CDM services which include: loan amount, collateral interest rate loan period, and capability building, the findings of the study have indicated with the overall mean of 3.65 that CDM finance services have increased clients’ income and also helped them to provide with the needs to their families. The study revealed the highest mean of 3.56 indicating that the system of group security for clients in accessing loans is difficult to comply with, and with an overall mean of 3.25 clients rated the demand of collateral fair.It was observed that loans give clients the opportunity to be able to provide for their families, this was revealed with the highest mean score of 3.96 and the overall mean of 3.81 with a description of agreement that they have achieved for their family basic needs and they have become more stable than before. There is an effect on health. At least some clients have been able to visit the health center because of the benefits from the company though they don’t have savings for emergencies. The study found out that age and education attainment is very important characteristics of the clients as a key in the successful loaning scheme. Mature people are more knowledgeable in terms of the experience of acquiring loans and they participate better in training and seminars conducted by CDM.","PeriodicalId":175666,"journal":{"name":"Sociology eJournal","volume":"128 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133830074","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The paper presents the concept of a recursive calculus of the economy. Economic decisions gain their self-reference from the fact that they contradict each other with regard to their decreasing marginal utility, opportunity costs, the postponement of satisfaction of needs and their own costs. This contradiction becomes the negation of the decision by itself. However, it is not a binary and antinomic negation, but a generalizing and reflexive negation. To negate a decision means to search for alternatives. With negation, a space of imagination is gained that can be unfolded in the medium of meaning in favor of factual, social and temporal references. The paper constructs a calculus of the economy in which money, markets, prices and risks provide the recursive symbols that allow economic decisions to be taken, counted, and ordered.
{"title":"Negation and Imagination in Economic Calculus","authors":"D. Baecker","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3500713","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3500713","url":null,"abstract":"The paper presents the concept of a recursive calculus of the economy. Economic decisions gain their self-reference from the fact that they contradict each other with regard to their decreasing marginal utility, opportunity costs, the postponement of satisfaction of needs and their own costs. This contradiction becomes the negation of the decision by itself. However, it is not a binary and antinomic negation, but a generalizing and reflexive negation. To negate a decision means to search for alternatives. With negation, a space of imagination is gained that can be unfolded in the medium of meaning in favor of factual, social and temporal references. The paper constructs a calculus of the economy in which money, markets, prices and risks provide the recursive symbols that allow economic decisions to be taken, counted, and ordered.","PeriodicalId":175666,"journal":{"name":"Sociology eJournal","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128111516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We study the problem of a planner designing a weighted and directed network to achieve her objectives subject to an organizational resource constraint. The network determines the complementarities between agents and, hence, their equilibrium effort. The planner's objective function can be convex to capture efficiency objectives or strictly concave to capture egalitarian concerns. We show that all optimal networks are generalized nested split graphs (GNSGs) that exhibit a `link-dominance' ordering among agents. The concept of GNSGs generalizes the previous notion of a nested split graph defined among unweighted and undirected networks to weighted and directed networks. Under a wide range of conditions, optimal networks must be hierarchical so that some agent is more influential and exerts strictly higher effort than others. This situation occurs even if agents are ex ante identical and the planner has egalitarian concerns. In a noncooperative network formation game, we show that all decentralized equilibrium networks are inefficient GNSGs.
{"title":"Designing Weighted and Directed Networks Under Complementarities","authors":"Xueheng. Li","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3299331","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3299331","url":null,"abstract":"We study the problem of a planner designing a weighted and directed network to achieve her objectives subject to an organizational resource constraint. The network determines the complementarities between agents and, hence, their equilibrium effort. The planner's objective function can be convex to capture efficiency objectives or strictly concave to capture egalitarian concerns. We show that all optimal networks are generalized nested split graphs (GNSGs) that exhibit a `link-dominance' ordering among agents. The concept of GNSGs generalizes the previous notion of a nested split graph defined among unweighted and undirected networks to weighted and directed networks. Under a wide range of conditions, optimal networks must be hierarchical so that some agent is more influential and exerts strictly higher effort than others. This situation occurs even if agents are ex ante identical and the planner has egalitarian concerns. In a noncooperative network formation game, we show that all decentralized equilibrium networks are inefficient GNSGs.","PeriodicalId":175666,"journal":{"name":"Sociology eJournal","volume":"40 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129103798","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The purpose of this paper will be to reveal some common reasons that change resistance takes place within a firm’s work group, team member, and in a general organizational setting with the support of: Gravenhorst (2003), Kotter & Cohen (2002), and Yuan & Hsu (2012). Additional offerings will include ethical strategies to incorporate in a firm in assisting in overcoming resistance by way of change to better promote a healthier organizational change.
{"title":"Change Resistance","authors":"Dr. Victor McFarland","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2825811","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2825811","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this paper will be to reveal some common reasons that change resistance takes place within a firm’s work group, team member, and in a general organizational setting with the support of: Gravenhorst (2003), Kotter & Cohen (2002), and Yuan & Hsu (2012). Additional offerings will include ethical strategies to incorporate in a firm in assisting in overcoming resistance by way of change to better promote a healthier organizational change.","PeriodicalId":175666,"journal":{"name":"Sociology eJournal","volume":"95 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127912133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The purpose of this paper will continue sharing on the subject regarding change and resistance to change within the corporate environment. The first offering involves sharing some important aspects in maintaining organizational change within a firm’s stakeholders. The second portion will be to share information pertaining to key organizational characteristics that can help foster a positive work environment to receive changes, and ending with what support can this paper’s author use to substantiate his chosen key characteristics to promote a healthy organizational change program.
{"title":"Fostering & Maintaining Change","authors":"Dr. Victor McFarland","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.2825824","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.2825824","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this paper will continue sharing on the subject regarding change and resistance to change within the corporate environment. The first offering involves sharing some important aspects in maintaining organizational change within a firm’s stakeholders. The second portion will be to share information pertaining to key organizational characteristics that can help foster a positive work environment to receive changes, and ending with what support can this paper’s author use to substantiate his chosen key characteristics to promote a healthy organizational change program.","PeriodicalId":175666,"journal":{"name":"Sociology eJournal","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131669696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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