Pushed online: What characteristics of regional offline labour markets influence the expansion of Internet and platform work?

Abstract

Despite disruptive impact of internet work on labour markets little is known about what, beyond individual pull factors, drives its expansion. This article extends current frameworks by investigating the role of regional economic and employment conditions. The analysis covers 165 regions in 14 European countries using a representative cross-national data set on individual engagement in internet and offline work, augmented with aggregate data on the regional context. Our findings suggest that otherwise similar workers engage more in internet work where offline opportunities are worse - fewer jobs and of lower quality - with effects up to 10% for large regional differences. The increase mainly represents workers juggling offline and internet jobs under conditions of economic and job insecurity. These results imply that internet work is not exceptional or separate from the traditional labour market, challenging the narrative of platforms as outsiders to labour market regulation and justifying the expansion of regulatory efforts.