Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash all represent a new kind of company — one that seeks to connect individual workers to fluid market demands. These electronic gig networks have not only spread prosperity but also made it clear how important people’s talents are to the economy as a whole. They also hold promise in providing people with ways to develop new skills and business opportunities and to become their own bosses rather than working for someone else.

But the gig economy is imperfect and has uncertainties regarding paychecks and health care. Dynamism, and the mobility and opportunity it provides, has always been a hallmark of a US economy that has delivered unprecedented wealth and well-being to more people than ever before in human history. How do we retain this dynamism without leaving ever larger numbers of workers exposed to unpredictable economic trends and events?

To help understand some of these trade-offs and how to maximize the benefits of the gig economy, we’re joined by Liya Palagashvili of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Palagashvili has published several new papers looking at women in the gig economy, the importance of this sector during and after the pandemic, and what the future of gig economy regulation might look like.

Show notes: 

Employee vs. independent worker: A framework for understanding work differences by Liya Palagashvili and Paola Suarez

Women as independent workers in the gig economy by Liya Palagashvili and Paola Suarez

Claudia Goldin

A grand gender convergence: Its last chapter by Claudia Goldin

Independent contractors in the US: New trends from 15 years of administrative tax data by Katherine Lim et al.

Startup innovation: The role of regulation in entrepreneurship by Liya Palagashvili

ABC Test | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute 

Freelancing in America 2019

New Upwork study finds 36 percent of the US workforce freelance amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Liya Palagashvili’s website

Liya Palagashvili’s Mercatus Center website

Liya Palagashvili’s Twitter