Effects of Flexibility on Digital Platform-Mediated Work in Five Ibero-American Countries

Sonia Maria Guedes Gondim (), Laila Carneiro, Valentina Viego, Erico Rentería-Pérez, Diana Cifuentes-Leiton, Daniela Moscon, Elisa Ansoleaga () and Esteban Agulló-Tomás ()
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Sonia Maria Guedes Gondim: Institute of Psychology, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador 40210-730, Brazil
Laila Carneiro: Institute of Psychology, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador 40210-730, Brazil
Valentina Viego: Department of Economy, Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur, Conicet-Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahia Blanca 8000, Argentina
Erico Rentería-Pérez: Faculty of Psychology, Universidad del Valle, Cali 760042, Colombia
Diana Cifuentes-Leiton: Faculty of Psychology, Universidad del Valle, Cali 760042, Colombia
Daniela Moscon: School of Administration, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador 40110-903, Brazil
Elisa Ansoleaga: Faculty of Psychology, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago 7630103, Chile
Esteban Agulló-Tomás: Institute of Psychology, Universidad de Oviedo, 33003 Oviedo, Spain

Social Sciences, 2024, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-14

Abstract: This study aimed to characterize digital platform-based work arrangements in regard to their degrees of flexibility and their effects on professional achievement, balance between pros and cons, and perception of risk. A survey was conducted with platform-based workers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Spain (e.g., transport, care and cleaning, content production, and house renting). Two thousand and forty-eight workers contacted through social networks and unions participated. Based on the factorial analysis, we propose a flexibility index covering five dimensions (contractual agreement, working hours, workplace, remuneration, and union ties). After controlling for covariates, the flexibility index was used in a regression to measure its effects on professional achievement, the balance of pros and cons, and risk perception. The digital workers with the highest flexibility scores worked in transportation and the trade of goods and services. Flexibility reduces professional achievement when the worker accesses platform jobs due to a lack of alternatives.

Keywords: digital worker; flexibility; intercultural study; digital platforms; gig work forms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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