Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Doctoral candidate of Allameh Tabatabai University

2 Professor Allameh Tabataba’i University

3 Associate Professor, Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran

4 Assistant Professor of Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Allameh Tabatabai University

Abstract

The emergence of Platform Businesses (PBs) has caused a conflict of interest between traditional and new economic players, so, based on the public interest theories to establish justice, the need for government intervention through regulation is highlighted. The research purpose is to extract regulatory challenges and solutions to the PBs in the field of labor relations. The participant's community includes all the stakeholders of the PBs, 24 of which were selected by snowball sampling, and semi-structured interviews with labor relations experts, academics in legal, economic, and regulatory fields, managers, and workers of transportation platforms were conducted. Thematic Analysis method was used to answer the questions. Results showed 8 main categories of labor relations challenges, which are Ambiguity in the concept of PBs; Market failure and the necessity of government intervention; Ambiguity in how to regulate; Necessity of amending the labor law and creating a special law of PBs; Reducing the bargaining power of platform workers; Weakness of HR systems; Weak social protection of platform workers' rights; Domination of the capitalist system. Also, five solutions were extracted. The fifth scenario -participation of all stakeholders in regulating the labor relations of PBs - was proposed to the practitioners and policymakers.

Keywords

Main Subjects

  1. Aloisi, A. (2016). Commoditized Workers. Case Study Research on Labor Law Issues Arising from a Set of' On-Demand/Gig Economy'Platforms. (May 1, 2016). Comparative Labor Law&Policy Journal, 37(3).
  2. Altenried, M. (2020). The platform as factory: Crowdwork and the hidden labour behind artificial intelligence. Capital & Class44(2), 145-158.
  3. Baldwin, R., Cave, M., & Lodge, M. (2012). Understanding regulation: Theory, strategy, and practice. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:osobl/ 9780199576081.001.0001
  4. Basukie, J., Wang, Y., & Li, S. (2020). Big data governance and algorithmic management in sharing economy platforms: A case of ridesharing in emerging markets. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 161, 120–310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120310
  5. Borelli, S., & Gualandi, S. (2021). Which social security regime for platform workers in Italy? International Social Security Review74(3-4), 133-154.
  6. Braithwaite, J., Coglianese, C., & Levi‐Faur, D. (2007). Can regulation and governance make a difference? Regulation & Governance, 1(1), 1-7.
  7. Caza, B. B., Reid, E. M., Ashford, S. J., & Granger, S. (2021). Working on my own: Measuring the challenges of gig work. Human Relations, 75(11), 2122-2159. https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267211030098(Original work published 2022)
  8. Chen, B., Liu, T., Guo, L., & Xie, Z. (2020). The disembedded digital economy: Social protection for new economy employment in China. Social Policy & Administration54(7), 1246-1260.
  9. Cherry, M.A.; Aloisi, A. Dependent contractors in the gig economy: A comparative approach. UL Rev. 2017, 66, 635.
    [CrossRef]
  10. Collier, R. B., Dubal, V. B., & Carter, C. (2017). “Labor Platforms and Gig Work: The Failure to Regulate”. IRLE Working Paper 106-17. http://irle.berkeley.edu/files/2017/Labor-Platforms-and-Gig-Work.pdf
  11. Davis, G. F. (2016a). Can an economy survive without corporations? Technology and robust organizational alternatives. Academy of Management Perspectives,30(2),129–140.
  12. Davis, G. F. (2016b). What might replace the modern corporation? Uberization and the web page
    Seattle University Law Review, 39, 501–515.
  13. Dieuaide P and Azaïs C (2020) Platforms of Work, Labour, and Employment Relationship: The Grey Zones of a Digital Governance. Frontiers in sociology. 5:2. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2020.00002
  14. Eggers, W. D., Turley, M., & Kishnani, P. (2018). The future ofregulation; Principles for regulating emerging technologies. D. Insights. https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/industry/public-ector/future-of-regulation/regulating-emerging-technology.html.
  15. Gawer, A. (2021). Digital platforms and ecosystems: Remarks on the dominant organizational forms of the digital age. Innovation, 24(1), 110–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/14479338.2021.1965888
  16. Hamouche, S., & Chabani, Z. (2021). COVID-19 and the new forms of employment relationship: implications and insights for human resource development. Industrial and Commercial Training53(4), 366-379.
  17. Harris, S. D., & Krueger, A. B. (2015). A proposal for modernizing labor laws for twenty-first-century work: the" independent worker"(p. 2015). Washington, DC: Brookings.
  18. Inversi, C. (2019). Exploring the concept of regulatory space: employment and working time regulation in the gig-economy(Doctoral dissertation, University of Manchester).
  19. Kennedy, J. (2016). Three paths to update labor law for the Gig Economy. Information technology & innovation foundation21.
  20. Khan, T. H., MacEachen, E., Hopwood, P., & Goyal, J. (2021). Self-employment, work and health: A critical narrative review. WORK70(3), 945-957. https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-213614(Original work published 2021)

 

  1. Kirchner, S., & Schüßler, E. (2020). Regulating the sharing economy: a field perspective. In Theorizing the sharing economy: Variety and trajectories of new forms of organizing(pp. 215-236). Emerald Publishing Limited.
  2. Koutsimpogiorgos, N., Van Slageren, J., Herrmann, A. M., & Frenken, K. (2020). Conceptualizing the gig economy and its regulatory problems. Policy & Internet, 12(4), 525-545.
  3. Kurin, J. (2017). A third way for applying US labor laws to the online gig economy: using the franchise business model to regulate gig workers.  Bus. & Tech. L.12, 193.
  4. Lanamaki, ¨ A., & Tuvikene, T. (2021). Framing digital future: Selective formalization and legitimation of ridehailing platforms in Estonia. Geoforum. (in press). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.01.016
  5. Lee, S., & Seo, Y. (2022). Exploring how interest groups affect regulation and innovation based on the two-level games: The case of regulatory sandboxes in Korea. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 183, Article 121880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121880
  6. Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
  7. Meijerink, J., & Keegan, A. (2019). Conceptualizing human resource management in the gig economy: Toward a platform ecosystem perspective. Journal of managerial psychology34(4), 214-232.
  8. Nielsen, M. L., Laursen, C. S., & Dyreborg, J. (2022). Who takes care of safety and health among young workers? Responsibilization of OSH in the platform economy. Safety science149, 105674.
  9. Park, S. K., Kwak, K. T., & Lee, B. G. (2019). Policy compliance and deterrence mechanism in the sharing economy: Accommodation sharing in Korea. Internet Research, 29(5), 1124–1148. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-03-2018-0098
  10. Popescu, G. H., Petrescu, I. E. & Sabie, O. M. (2018). Algorithmic Labor in the Platform Economy: Digital Infrastructures, Job Quality, and Workplace Surveillance, Economics, Management, and Financial Markets 13(3): 74. doi: https://doi.org/10.22381/EMFM13320184
  11. Rauch, D. E., & Schleicher, D. (2015). Like Uber, but for local government law: The future of local regulation of the sharing economy. Ohio State Law Journal, 76(4), 901–963.
  12. Simoes Reis, M. J. (2019). Regulatory Challenges of Unfair Dismissal for Gig Economy Workers in the UK. Available at SSRN 3518341.
  13. Soltanzadeh, J., Elyasi, M., Ghaderifar, E., Rezaei Soufi, H., & Khoshsirat, M. (2020). Evaluation of the effect of R&D subsidies on Iranian firms’ innovative behavior. Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, 11(1), 17–48. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTPM-11-2018-0109
  14. Soltanzadeh, J., Blind, K., & Elyasi, M. (2023). Exploring how regulators face platform business issues in the lifecycle stages: Evidence of iranian ride-hailing platform business. Telecommunications Policy, 102582.
  15. Stewart, A., & Stanford, J. (2017). Regulating work in the gig economy: What are the options? The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 28(3), 420-437.
  16. Thelen, K. (2018). Regulating Uber: The politics of the platform economy in Europe and the United States. Perspectives on politics16(4), 938-953.
  17. Wardhana, V. H. K., Herlina, M. G., Bangsawan, S., & Tuori, M. A. T. (2020). Regulatory Developments in the Gig Economy: A Literature Review. The Winners, 21 (2), 141–153.
  18. Woodside, J., Vinodrai, T., & Moos, M. (2021). Bottom-up strategies, platform worker power and local action: Learning from ridehailing drivers. Local Economy36(4), 325-343.
  19. Zhang, C. (2019). China’s new regulatory regime tailored for the sharing economy: The case of Uber under Chinese local government regulation in comparison to the EU, US, and the UK. Computer Law & Security Report, 35(4), 462–475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2019.03.004
  20. Zhao, Y., Von Delft, S., Morgan-Thomas, A., & Buck, T. (2020). The evolution of platform business models: Exploring competitive battles in the world of platforms. Long Range Planning, 53(4), Article 101892.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2019.101892
  21. Zietlow, R. E. The New Peonage: Liberty and Precarity for Workers in the Gig Economy’(2020). Wake Forest L Rev55, 1087.
  22. Ződi, Z., & Török, B. (2021). Constitutional Values in the Gig-Economy? Why Labor Law Fails at Platform Work, and What Can We Do About It? Societies, 11(3), 86.
  23. Narimani, M., Karimmian, Z., & Hosseini, S. J. (2020). An Institutional Framework for Regulating New Business Models: A Case Study of Application-based Transportation. Iranian Journal of Public Policy, 6(1), 9-34. https://doi.org/10.22059/jppolicy.2020.76998 [In Persian]
  24. Soltanzadeh, J., & Elyasi M. (2021). Regulation and Deregulation of Innovation; Smart Regulatory. Tehran, Allameh Tabataba’i University Press. ISBN: 9789642174904. [In Persian]
  25. Soltanzadeh, J., Elyasi, M., & Narimani, M. (2021). Regulatory Stalemates Analysis of Iranian Ride-hailing Platform Business by the Advocacy Coalition Framework. Innovation Management Journal, 10(3), 153-180. [In Persian]
  26. Zamanian, Z. (2021). Digital Platform Workers and Social security coverage. Social security Journal, 17(1), 47-70. [In Persian]