Conference Theme Track B: IS for Resilience
Loading...
Paper Number
1887
Paper Type
Completed
Description
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented unemployment crisis. But new opportunities emerged in gig economy to support a flexible form of labor participation. In our research, we study the response of gig economy to various pandemic mitigation policies. Leveraging novel, population-scale, and high-frequency location data, we present our evidence on the impact of COVID-19 policies on gig economy. We find that (1) gig jobs remain resilient throughout the crisis, suffering fewer job losses than the traditional labor market; (2) the gig sector absorbed the non-gig labor losses during the crisis; (3) the gig economy boosts resilience of the disadvantaged, curbing job losses more in Black neighborhoods; and (4) gig workers adapted their work hours to suit the populations’ changing circadian rhythms. Our findings highlight the resilience of gig economy in the face of an unprecedented public health crisis and the importance of gig jobs to vulnerable populations.
Recommended Citation
Basavaraj, Naveen; Foutz, Natasha Z.; and Li, Beibei, "Resilience of the U.S. Gig Economy during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Insights from Location Big Data" (2021). ICIS 2021 Proceedings. 6.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2021/is_resilience/is_resilience/6
Resilience of the U.S. Gig Economy during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Insights from Location Big Data
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented unemployment crisis. But new opportunities emerged in gig economy to support a flexible form of labor participation. In our research, we study the response of gig economy to various pandemic mitigation policies. Leveraging novel, population-scale, and high-frequency location data, we present our evidence on the impact of COVID-19 policies on gig economy. We find that (1) gig jobs remain resilient throughout the crisis, suffering fewer job losses than the traditional labor market; (2) the gig sector absorbed the non-gig labor losses during the crisis; (3) the gig economy boosts resilience of the disadvantaged, curbing job losses more in Black neighborhoods; and (4) gig workers adapted their work hours to suit the populations’ changing circadian rhythms. Our findings highlight the resilience of gig economy in the face of an unprecedented public health crisis and the importance of gig jobs to vulnerable populations.
When commenting on articles, please be friendly, welcoming, respectful and abide by the AIS eLibrary Discussion Thread Code of Conduct posted here.
Comments
02-Resilience