Paper Number
ECIS2026-1912
Paper Type
CRP
Abstract
Geopolitical crises, such as the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, have profound implications for cross-border gig economy platforms. These platforms, which facilitate remote work across national boundaries, increasingly expose workers to political polarization risks. Workers’ public expressions of political stances can significantly impact their employment opportunities and income stability. Grounded in polarization theory and an empirical context of the gig economy, we use a large-scale dataset from a European online labor platform to examine the interplay between political ideology and gig work dynamics. We examine how workers’ declarations of anti-war stances affect their work performance, employer engagement, and earnings. The findings reveal that workers expressing anti-war stances attract more engagement from ideologically aligned employers, such as those from Ukraine and Belarus, but face reduced opportunities with employers from Russia. Despite fewer engagements overall, these workers often earn higher average incomes per engagement, reflecting a potential premium for aligning with certain client values. Additionally, attributes such as ratings, competitiveness, and work experience moderate these effects, with high-quality and experienced workers showing greater resilience to political polarization. This research advances the understanding of the gig economy’s vulnerabilities during geopolitical crises. It offers theoretical contributions to political polarization and online labor market literature while providing actionable insights for gig workers, platform designers, and policymakers navigating the challenges of online labor markets in conflict-affected regions.
Recommended Citation
LIN, Qingyuan and Lu, Angela, "Does Political Ideology Matter? Evidence From A European Online Labor Market Under Russian-Ukrainian Conflict" (2026). ECIS 2026 Proceedings. 4.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2026/algo_fow/algo_fow/4
Does Political Ideology Matter? Evidence From A European Online Labor Market Under Russian-Ukrainian Conflict
Geopolitical crises, such as the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, have profound implications for cross-border gig economy platforms. These platforms, which facilitate remote work across national boundaries, increasingly expose workers to political polarization risks. Workers’ public expressions of political stances can significantly impact their employment opportunities and income stability. Grounded in polarization theory and an empirical context of the gig economy, we use a large-scale dataset from a European online labor platform to examine the interplay between political ideology and gig work dynamics. We examine how workers’ declarations of anti-war stances affect their work performance, employer engagement, and earnings. The findings reveal that workers expressing anti-war stances attract more engagement from ideologically aligned employers, such as those from Ukraine and Belarus, but face reduced opportunities with employers from Russia. Despite fewer engagements overall, these workers often earn higher average incomes per engagement, reflecting a potential premium for aligning with certain client values. Additionally, attributes such as ratings, competitiveness, and work experience moderate these effects, with high-quality and experienced workers showing greater resilience to political polarization. This research advances the understanding of the gig economy’s vulnerabilities during geopolitical crises. It offers theoretical contributions to political polarization and online labor market literature while providing actionable insights for gig workers, platform designers, and policymakers navigating the challenges of online labor markets in conflict-affected regions.
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