2 PhD positions on the Gig Economy (1.0 FTE)

We are looking for two PhD candidates who will work on two projects. These two projects are part of an NWO-VIDI Grant on the "Gig Economy", which funds research on online labour markets and their institutional foundations. Enabling the hiring of service workers via internet-based platforms, the gig economy is revolutionizing traditional employment. The socio-economic consequences are massive, ranging from increased work-autonomy to the possible erosion of labour standards. Interestingly, the opportunities and threats of the gig economy are perceived differently across countries, also depending on national regulation of dependent employment.

To understand the gig economy - its institutional foundations, its impacts on national labour markets and necessities for regulation - the PhD candidates will collect and analyze data on gig workers, online platforms and the social partners. Analyses will include different regression techniques, discrete choice experiments and sequence analyses.

The candidates will become part of the NWO-VIDI project team and its international network, as well as the wider Innovation Studies group - led by Koen Frenken, Marko Hekkert and Ellen Moors - of the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development. A three- to six-months research stay at a foreign University or Research Institute is envisaged as part of the project. The students will be supervised by Associate Professor Andrea Herrmann.