Measuring the Gig Economy at the State and Local Level
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Review of research approaches, data resources, and limitations to consider for investigations of gig and independent work at state and regional scales.
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Measuring the Gig Economy at the State and Local Level
- 1. Measuring the Gig Economy at the State and Local Level: Lots of Questions, Limited Answers + a Few Resources Troy Mix, AICP June 6, 2019 C2ER Annual Conference St. Louis, MO
- 2. Is the Gig Economy the Nutritional Guidance of the Economic Research Space? 1 https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/when-it- comes-cholesterol-chicken-bad-red-meat-n1013376 https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/07/economy /gig-economy-katz-krueger/index.html “Understanding Trends in Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States” Lawrence F. Katz, Alan B. Krueger https://www.nber.org/papers/w25425
- 3. My plan • Present some practical, research motivating questions about the gig economy • Review a quick first try at analyzing the gig economy in Delaware • Step back and: – Define the gig economy – Suggest resources and research approaches 2
- 4. Motivating Question for Understanding the Gig Economy in Delaware • How can we employ more of the hard to employ? – Does the Gig Economy offer promise as a source of income + entrepreneurial skills? – How big a current market? future opportunity? 3 http://udspace.udel.edu/bitstream/handle/19716/24162/S mallBusinessAssistanceLandscapeStudy2018.pdf
- 5. Using Nonemployer Statistics to Understand the Gig Economy • Annual series for establishments with no paid employees, but >=$1k receipts • Majority of firms, but <4% of receipts nationally https://census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer- statistics/about.html 4
- 6. Using Nonemployer Statistics to Understand the Gig Economy in Delaware 5 Modest overall growth Regional differences Substantial shares
- 7. Survey of Business Owners & the Gig Economy • Every five year look at share of nonemployer firm activity – Survey paired with administrative records • “SBO provides the only source of detailed and comprehensive data on the status, nature, and scope of women-, minority-, and veteran-owned businesses.” Available at www.census.gov/econ/sbo 6
- 8. Survey of Business Owners for Delaware 7
- 9. Was this useful for my study? Not really • Provided part of comprehensive picture of small business activity – Role of nonemployer firms often overlooked and lumped in with small businesses more generally • Quickly recreating Gig study in context of broad small business study wasn’t feasible • Could have dug deeper – e.g., Owner Characteristics 8
- 10. Measuring Relative Independence vs. Measuring the Gig Economy Work arrangement Paid wage/salary Implicit or explicit contract Predictable schedule Predictable earnings when working Self-employed business owner Some Some Yes Some Day laborer No No No No Platform worker No No No No Freelancer No No No No 9 Abraham, K. G., Haltiwanger, J. C., Sandusky, K., & Spletzer, J. R. (2018). Measuring the gig economy: Current knowledge and open issues (No. w24950). National Bureau of Economic Research.
- 11. Problems with Existing Measures and the Gig Economy • Focus tends to be on primary jobs • Conflicting evidence – Administrative data provides stronger support than survey data for gig work • Income often underreported 10 Abraham, K. G., Haltiwanger, J. C., Sandusky, K., & Spletzer, J. R. (2018). Measuring the gig economy: Current knowledge and open issues (No. w24950). National Bureau of Economic Research.
- 12. RESEARCH APPROACHES AND RESOURCES 11
- 13. My Lessons Learned for Conducting Gig Economy Research • Be Decisive – If you can’t do holistic deep dive, focus on one area • Plenty of potential focus areas – Online platform economy – Workplace protections – Business development programming & support • Push-button sources don’t exist – be flexible/creative 12
- 14. Focus on the Online Platform Economy: J.P. Morgan Chase & Company Institute 13 https://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/institute/report-ope-2018.htm
- 15. New, Proprietary Data Sources: J.P. Morgan Chase & Company Institute 14 https://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/institute/report-ope-2018.htm
- 16. New, Proprietary Data Sources: J.P. Morgan Chase & Company Institute 15 https://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/institute/report-ope-2018.htm
- 17. Data Sources Not Built for Economic Research: Chicago Open Data on Transportation Providers 16 http://compassred.com/blog/2019/5/22/want-to-get-a-tip-as-an-uber-driver-dont-pick-up-a-shared-ride
- 18. Unknowns in dealing with new data sources • Updated frequently enough to introduce into workflows? • Flexible enough to provide useful economic information? • Available at appropriate scales? 17
- 19. Focus on workplace fissure • “contracting and subcontracting out for positions that are typically held by full- time employees” • How should these workers be protected? 18 Three part series starts here: https://medium.com/first-state-insights/selected- government-responses-to-labor-concerns-in-the-modern- gig-economy-ed4c3e67f035
- 20. Focus on business development programming and support 19 https://www.sdivsbdc.org/gig-business/ https://hbr.org/2018/03/thriving-in-the-gig-economy
- 21. Selected Resources • “Measuring the gig economy: Current knowledge and open issues” – https://www.nber.org/p apers/w24950 • EntreWorks Blog – http://entreworks.net/blog/ 20 http://www.oecd.org/employment/policy-responses-to- new-forms-of-work-0763f1b7-en.htm
- 22. Should we care about the gig economy? • Is it a driver of economy? Will it be? – Should it be a focus of attraction efforts? • Is it part of a new reality? – How do we make it work better for individuals and communities? 21
- 23. My Lessons Learned for Conducting Gig Economy Research • Be Decisive – If you can’t do holistic deep dive, focus on one area • Plenty of potential focus areas – Online platform economy – Workplace protections – Business development programming & support • Push-button sources don’t exist – be flexible/creative – New data sources likely to emerge 22
- 24. Questions for Discussion • What analyses are you being asked to prepare relative to the gig economy? • What challenges have you faced in preparing these analyses? • What programs and policies are your organizations considering relative to the gig economy? • What data will you need to inform these programs/policies? 23
- 25. Institute for Public Administration Troy Mix, AICP Associate Director 191A Graham Hall Newark, DE 19716 mix@udel.edu 302-831-6191 www.ipa.udel.edu 24
Editor's Notes
- More activity in NCC, but independent work takes on more importance as share of total activity in the smaller counties
- Some of the same issues in terms of retirement, health care, labor protections, but not same as gig
- “For this study, we extend the JPMorgan Chase Institute Online Platform Economy dataset in order to track supply-side participation and earnings. We identify 38 million payments directed through 128 different online platforms to 2.3 million distinct Chase checking accounts, out of a de-identified sample of 39 million, between October 2012 and March 2018”
- “Between 2013 and 2017, earnings fell by 53 percent in the transportation sector and grew by 69 percent in the leasing sector. Earnings in the non-transport work and selling sectors were volatile but showed no strong trends”
- “In January 2018, platform earnings represented 54 percent of total observed take-home income among active participants. However, platforms are not replacing traditional sources of family income. Among those who have participated in the Online Platform Economy at any point in a year, average platform earnings represent roughly 20 percent of total observed take-home income in any month of that year.”