Working Paper: NBER ID: w23398
Authors: John Horton; William R. Kerr; Christopher Stanton
Abstract: Digital labor markets are rapidly expanding and connecting companies and contractors on a global basis. We review the environment in which these markets take root, the micro- and macro-level studies of their operations, their ongoing evolution and recent trends, and perspectives for undertaking research with micro-data from these labor platforms. We undertake new empirical analyses of Upwork data regarding 1) the alignment of micro- and macro-level approaches to disproportionate ethnic-connected exchanges on digital platforms, 2) gravity model analyses of global outsourcing contract flows and their determinants for digital labor markets, and 3) quantification of own- and cross-country elasticities for contract work by wage rate. Digital labor markets are an exciting frontier for global talent flows and growing rapidly in importance.
Keywords: digital labor markets; global talent flows; outsourcing; contract work; ethnic diasporas
JEL Codes: F15; F22; F23; J15; J31; J44; L14; L24; L26; L84; M55; O31; O32
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| existing trade relationships and GDP differences (F10) | outsourcing dynamics (L24) |
| share of the Indian diaspora in a host country (F22) | share of contracts outsourced to India (L24) |
| spatial distance (C49) | likelihood of outsourcing to India (L24) |
| presence of ethnic Indian contractors in a country (J15) | likelihood of contracts being awarded to Indian workers (J68) |