A new type of worker, the gig worker, is acknowledge and problematized as to what challenges mediators can face with managing them as previous research points out their differences from other workers. The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze challenges that a mediator can face when managing gig workers and also elevate the knowledge regarding gig workers on how to work with them. A semi-structured interview was conducted with four participants, three mediators of established gig firms in Sweden and one management consultant and expert in the field of gig economy. The finding indicated that there exist two challenges that mediators can face when managing gig workers: 1) The expectations of the matchmaking 2) Allowing gig workers to be independent

The Gig-Economy is an alternative way of describing a world where long-term employees turn into short-term independent contractors in charge of their own careers. The cross-sectional half of the current study will gather data from multiple generations of professionals and emerging professionals that assesses their career adaptabilities, gender, marital status, presence of children, and preference for the Gig Economy. Previous research has not analyzed these factors in combination with each other. The Millennial participants from the cross-sectional portion of the study will be tested once every five years as they progress through their careers on these same measures. Millennials will have more career adapt abilities than other generations, and will prefer the Gig Economy more than other generations. However, females will prefer the Gig Economy more than men, as it provides for more flexibility. Those who are married and especially those with children will prefer the Gig Economy more than those who are unmarried or without children. The information from the current study will be helpful to anyone currently working in or about to start working. It will allow career counselors information with which to best guide Millennials and all those struggling to find their way in the Gig Economy.

The gig economy has made it possible for individuals to capitalize on the surplus value in a product or their spare time. However, the companies who operate in the gig economy see themselves as tech companies and state that they only provide an intermediary platform where a customer and a gig worker can meet. Other than that, they don’t assume any responsibility for the performance of the service. This position is also possible to discern in the companies terms of service, who the customer needs to accept to be able to use the platform.                        Tort law states a vicarious liability in general for the employees of the company. However, this raises the question regarding who is to be seen as a worker.  Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to place the gig economy in the context of traditional tort law. As this is a new societal phenomenon, it is of interest to further analyze the socio-economic consequences of the result.                        To fulfill the purpose, the thesis applies the accepted legal sources, namely, legislation and its legislative history, court practice and literature of jurisprudence. The legislation does not define the term worker, therefore other legal sources need to be applied. Necessary material from doctrine and practice is also used in the description of whether contractual clauses can be adjusted. This material then forms the basis for a concrete application of the law. Based on this result, a legal economic perspective is then applied to answer whether the current legal situation entails an effective cost distribution in society.                       Gig work as such is not a uniform type of work but consists of two different categories that are also sorted into sub-categories that also differ depending on the platform. However, the vicarious liability should be possible to apply in all cases. What has mainly led to that conclusion is that the financial reasons behind the vicarious liability must have a material effect.                          In two cases vicarious liability has not been applicable due to the effect of the companies terms of service. In the first case since the cost of damage is likely to be of a low value. Therefore, no intervening effect occurs. In the second case, compensation is already paid to the injured party as in these cases there is a requirement that the gig worker has valid insurance.                       The gig economy consists of various possibilities for the principal to monitor the work. This creates an incentive for the gig worker to exercise the necessary caution as otherwise he or she risks losing his job. Thus, an overall economic efficiency arises in society as the platform can internalize this cost within the company instead of placing it on the injured party hence the worker assumes to be insolvent under a rule of personal liability. Surprisingly, the companies in those cases where a rule of personal liability occurs are also the ones who take the most measures to prevent injury. However, the worker assumes to demand to be compensated for the risks that he or she undertakes. Therefore, the cost of production increase and economic welfare decline as a result as the companies needs to charge higher prices.

There are four million voluntary attritions a month in the US. Many of these people choses to become freelance consultants (gig workers) working through digital gig platforms for better work-life balance. At the same time organizations requires a more flexible access to skills and competences to cope with an ever more dynamic business environment. This trend is also apparent in Europe. As people with the necessary skills and abilities is increasingly found on digital gig platforms, organizations must turn to these platforms to find needed competence. The act of hiring these digital gig workers through digital gig platforms are called crowdsourcing. The risks of crowdsourcing have mostly been studied from the perspective of gig workers and platform operator and there is a lack of understanding regarding the risk with crowdsourcing from the perspective of hiring organizations.       Our aim is to understand what risks organizations perceive with digital gig platforms and digital gig workers, and how organizations could mitigate the perceived risks by using a risk management framework. We conducted a qualitative case study around crowdsourcing as a process. Seven semi-structured interviews with mangers in organizations of various seize and industries were made. These interviews were supplemented with a document study of digital gig platform policies as these policies can reflect common concerns expressed by hiring organizations. Findings shows that there are several perceived organizational risks in crowdsourcing digital gig workers from digital gig platforms. The perceived risks can be categorized as HR, financial, market, operational, technological and supply chain types of risk. These types of risks can be either internal, external, or voluntary risks. The discussion revolves around where the different perceived organizational risks would fit within a risk management framework. The risks can be connected to all components of existing risk management frameworks. Our risk management model of crowdsourcing can be used as a heuristic tool for practitioners and contributes to theory by creating understanding of the risks with crowdsourcing from the perspective of organizations.

The number of self-employed has been rising and it is estimated that 20–30% of the working-age population in the EU-15 and the U.S. is involved in some form of independent work. This growth is driven by technological advancements, changing work values and an overall need to adapt to a high-change environment. This has given rise to a new term: the gig economy. The IT and Business consulting industry has started to tap further into the gig economy and has started to realize that it could be beneficial to interact with gig workers in new ways, since current arrangements with subcontracting consultants are insufficient. In order to redesign current arrangements in an efficient way, it is of interest to gain a greater understanding of the incumbents’ perspectives. This thesis investigates what motivational factors that are the most distinguishing to work in the gig economy in the IT and Business consulting industry. Thereto, possibilities and limitations for transferring theories of entrepreneurial motivation to the gig economy are discussed. Further, the thesis elaborates upon how the findings can be used in practice and what insights they provide for redesigning consultancies. The thesis employed a case study methodology where semi-structured interviews with gig workers in the context of this study were conducted. The study was influenced by previous research in entrepreneurial motivation, a closely related area within self-employment. The result is that the most distinguishing motivational factors are independence and development. A motivation for independence expresses itself in wanting to decide which projects to take on as well as where and when, and not having a superior that tells you what to do. A motivation for development involves the need for learning new things, improve your skills, and take on challenges. Networking and building relationships are important parts of being a gig worker and often necessities, but even though some gig workers really enjoyed these activities, it is hard to determine whether they are motivating in themselves. Thereto, it was found that monetary rewards were not motivational per se, but a necessity for working. The motivational factors were found to be rooted in the inherent motivations of high need for achievement, desire for independence, internal locus of control, and high self-efficacy. Lastly, there are both possibilities and limitations of theory transfer. The possibilities concern the similarities of the roles when viewing them as self-employed and the limitations concern the theories that are tightly coupled to the entrepreneurial process. / Antalet egenanställda har ökat och det är beräknat att upptill till 20–30 % av den yrkesverksamma befolkningen i EU-15 och USA är involverad i någon form av självständigt arbete. Denna tillväxt är driven av teknologiutveckling, förändrade arbetsvärderingar samt ett övergripande behov av anpassning i en snabbföränderlig miljö. Detta har gett upphov till en ny term: gig-ekonomin. Konsultverksamheter inom IT och Business har börjat närma sig gig-ekonomin och har börjat inse att det skulle kunna vara fördelaktigt att interagera med giggare på nya sätt, eftersom nuvarande upplägg med underkonsulter har varit otillräckliga. För att kunna forma om detta upplägg effektivt är det av intresse att få en bättre förståelse av befintliga intressenters perspektiv. Detta examensarbete undersöker vilka motivationsfaktorer som är utmärkande för arbete i gig-ekonomin i området för konsultverksamhet inom IT och Business. Därutöver diskuteras vilka möjligheter och begränsningar det finns för att överföra teorier inom entreprenöriell motivation till gig-ekonomin. Vidare diskuterar denna studie hur resultatet kan användas i praktiken och vilka insikter det ger vid omorganisering av konsultbyråer. Detta undersöktes genom en fallstudie, där semi-strukturerade intervjuer med giggare i studiens kontext genomfördes. Studien var influerad av tidigare forskning inom entreprenöriell motivation, vilket är ett nära relaterat område inom egenanställning. Resultatet är att de utmärkande motivationsfaktorerna är självständighet och utveckling. Motivation för självständighet uttryckte sig i en vilja att bestämma över vilka projekt man åtar sig samt var och när, och i att inte ha en chef som säger till en vad man ska göra. Motivation för utveckling inkluderar behovet av att lära sig nya saker, förbättra sina färdigheter, och att ta sig an utmaningar. Nätverkande och att bygga relationer är viktiga delar av att vara en giggare och ofta nödvändigt, men även om giggare gillade dessa aktiviteter är det svårt att avgöra om dessa är motiverande i sig själva. Därutöver hittades det att monetära belöningar inte var motiverande i sig, men en nödvändighet för att arbeta. De motiverande faktorerna visade sig vara rotade i de inneboende motivationerna; hög need for achievement, önskan om självständighet, internt kontroll-lokus, och hög self-efficacy. Slutligen finns det både möjligheter och begränsningar med överföring av teori. Möjligheterna kommer från likheterna mellan rollerna när man betraktar båda som egenanställda och begränsningar hittas i teorier som är kopplade till den entreprenöriella processen.

In the last ten years, the gig economy has become a significant part of the labor market. Consumers depend on the services provided by people performing gig work, particularly as on-demand services are increasingly desired. Another trend that has developed is the rise of fast casual restaurants due to their relatively inexpensive and quick service while simultaneously providing unique and interesting cuisine options. I examined if there was a relationship between the rise of these emerging sectors of the economy through looking at the performance of limited service eating place establishments using a panel data regression model at the Metropolitan Statistical Area level from 2006 to 2015. I concluded that there is a negative relationship between the number gig firms and the number limited service eating places and no relationship between the number gig firms and the annual payroll of limited service eating places. With opposite results from those hypothesized, I recommend ways to improve the research and propose alternative research questions to answer looking at the gig economy and the restaurant industry.

Studien behandlar hur frilansande projektledare agerar för att leda och bygga effektiva team i temporära ledarroller. Ämnet har studerats med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod med en semistrukturerad intervjuguide vars syfte var att inbringa förståelse för respondenternas framgångsfaktorer och utmaningar kring skapandet av effektiva team. Effektiva team som begrepp hänvisas till Susan Wheelans definition av hög presterande och välmående grupper. Ur studiens två huvudteman Det strukturella ledarskapet samt Det teamriktade ledarskapet presenteras ett resultat som hänvisar till både strategiska och interpersonella ledaregenskaper. Ur temana framgår det att de främsta framgångsfaktorerna för skapandet av effektiva team är ageranden som hänvisar till strukturella former av helhetsperspektiv, konflikthantering och säkerställa rätt kompetens medan det teamriktade ledarskapet fokuserar på teamets arbetsmiljö genom laganda, samsyn och lyhördhet. Ur studiens resultat framgår det att varken det strukturella- eller teamriktade ledarskapet anses viktigare än det andra utan behöver balanseras för att på bästa sätt skapa effektiva team. De utmaningar som studien presenterar redogör för hur varje projekts målbild behöver grundas i en problemformulering så att de lösningar som implementeras leder till förbättringar i projektet och inte tvärtom. Den primära utmaningen i det teamriktade ledarskapet är hur det frilansande projektyrket under perioder kräver parering mellan flera projekt, vilket kan ge negativa effekter på teamets dynamik och samarbetsförmåga om ledarrollen är otydlig. Studiens slutsatser är att ledarskapet är tvådimensionellt för att skapa effektiva teamprestationer och innefattar strukturella och kulturella egenskaper som frilansande projektledare behöver hantera gentemot projektteamet. Det är därmed en balansgång mellan strukturella och teamriktade ageranden som är avgörande för frilansande projektledare att skapa effektiva team.

Bakgrund: Idag finns lite kunskap om gig-arbete och hur arbetsformen påverkar individer verksamma inom gig-ekonomins aktivitetsutförande. Syfte: Syfte med studien var att beskriva gig-arbetares aktivitetsbalans och hälsa samt beskriva kontexten för gig-arbete och arbetsutförandet. Metod: En kvantitativ tvärsnittsstudie som kombinerats med en observation inspirerad av fallstudiemetodik. Deltagarna rekryterades genom bekvämlighetsurval. Målgruppen var gig-arbetare verksamma i gig-ekonomin som utgör de okvalificerade uppdragsbaserade arbetena som utförs lokalt. Tio gig-arbetare deltog i studien. Data samlandes in via enkät och observationer på sociala medier och i reell miljö. Databearbetning skedde genom deskriptiv statistik och kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Studiens resultat visar att helhetsupplevelsen av gig-arbete är bra men deltagarna skattar aktivitetsobalans. I helhet skattar gruppen sin hälsa som god. Det visar på slutna svårtillgängliga grupper av gig-arbetare på sociala medier där diskussionerna till stor del handlar om arbetsmiljö och arbetsorganisation. De som skattar god hälsa är de gig-arbetare som arbetar 40 timmer eller mer i veckan och tjänar 20 000kr eller mer per månad. Slutsats: En stor andel i gruppen upplever bristfällig tillfredställelse med tid för aktiviteter utanför arbetet. Det finns aktivitetsobalans bland deltagarna men grupper upplever sin hälsa som god. De flesta har arbetsformen som primär inkomstkälla och det är en spridning av inkomstnivån.

abstract: Two-sided online platforms are typically plagued by hidden information (adverse selection) and hidden actions (moral hazard), limiting market efficiency. Under the context of the increasingly popular online labor contracting platforms, this dissertation investigates whether and how IT-enabled monitoring systems can mitigate moral hazard and reshape the labor demand and supply by providing detailed information about workers’ effort. In the first chapter, I propose and demonstrate that monitoring records can substitute for reputation signals such that they attract more qualified inexperienced workers to enter the marketplace. Specifically, only the effort-related reputation information is substituted by monitoring but the capability-related reputation information. In line with this, monitoring can lower the entry barrier for inexperienced workers on platforms. In the second chapter, I investigate if there is home bias for local workers when employers make the hiring decisions. I further show the existence of home bias from employers and it is primarily driven by statistical inference instead of personal “taste”. In the last chapter, I examine if females tend to have a stronger avoidance of monitoring than males. With the combination of the observational data and experimental data, I find that there is a gender difference in avoidance of monitoring and the introduction of the monitoring system increases the gender wage gap due to genders differences in such willingness-to-pay for the avoidance of monitoring. These three studies jointly contribute to the literature on the online platforms, gig economy and agency theory by elucidating the critical role of IT-enabled monitoring. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2019

The gig economy has rapidly become something of a phenomenon in the digital economy today. New firms are quickly being added to this digital market ecosphere and the business model has garnered the attention of the business and investor communities as a new organizational alternative to standard hierarchies. However this new business model also poses substantial problems for its workers, who as independent contractors are not afforded the benefits or rights of the welfare state that are granted to employees. As the gig economy continues to achieve financial success and holds a more prominent place in our labor force, the precarious state of gig labor is becoming an increasingly political problem. This thesis explores the present state of labor in the gig economy by situating it within the context of welfare state scholarship. I examine how the inner mechanics of the gig economy operate, as well as examine the structures of the American welfare state that create this dualist divide between contractors and employees. I argue that welfare state scholarship demonstrates a path by which gig laborers and gig firms can form cross class alliances that can help develop new welfare state policies to improve gig worker conditions and be supported by gig firms themselves. / Master of Arts / The gig economy has rapidly become something of a phenomenon in the digital economy today. New firms are quickly being added to this digital market ecosphere and the business model has garnered the attention of the business and investor communities as a new organizational alternative to standard hierarchies. However this new business model also poses substantial problems for its workers, who as independent contractors are not afforded the benefits or rights of the welfare state that are granted to employees. As the gig economy continues to achieve financial success and holds a more prominent place in our labor force, the precarious state of gig labor is becoming an increasingly political problem. This thesis explores the present state of labor in the gig economy by situating it within the context of welfare state scholarship. I examine how the inner mechanics of the gig economy operate, as well as examine the structures of the American welfare state that create this dualist divide between contractors and employees. I argue that welfare state scholarship demonstrates a path by which gig laborers and gig firms can form cross class alliances that can help develop new welfare state policies to improve gig worker conditions and be supported by gig firms themselves.