On the critical role of freelancers in agile economies

Andrew Burke () and Marc Cowling
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Andrew Burke: Trinity College

Small Business Economics, 2020, vol. 55, issue 2, No 7, 393-398

Abstract: Abstract The most dynamic economies in the world are characterised by an entrepreneurial, innovation-driven business sector. And this requires firms to unburden themselves from bureaucratic constraints and become more agile and flexible. A key, and hitherto ignored, agent in this transformative process is the freelancer. Historically considered as displaced and disenfranchised workers, we argue that many freelancers are in fact highly skilled professionals who choose this form of work organisation. Further, their role in providing specialist expertise and knowledge to the firms they engage with is critical and mutually beneficial as it allows firms to adopt more flexible and agile business models capable of responding to a dynamic and rapidly changing business environment.

Keywords: Freelancers; Solo self-employment; Entrepreneurial economy; Innovation; Agile; history of freelancing; B20; N80; N30; J41; K12; L26; O25 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11187-019-00240-y

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