THE EFFECT OF MACROECONOMIC FACTORS ON ONLINE LABOR PLATFORM USERS: THE CASE OF TURKEY

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between the online labour force and real economic factors. Since the Online labour index is one of the main determinants of the GIG economy, this study also reveals which macroeconomic variables the GIG economy is based on. The aim of the study is to determine the effect of real economic factors (unemployment, economic growth, inflation) on the count of online platform users. As a result of the econometric analysis conducted with Turkey's data set for the period of June 2017 -January 2021, it has been determined that real economic factors have a statistically significant effect on the count of online platform users. According to the results of the analysis, the increase in unemployment rate and economic growth will cause an increase in the count of online platform users, while increase in inflation will cause an opposite effect.

Keywords

• GIG Economy
• Online Labour Platforms
• Unemployment
• Growth
• Inflation

MAKROEKONOMİK FAKTÖRLERİN ONLINE İŞGÜCÜ PLATFORM KULLANICILARI ÜZERİNE ETKİSİ: TÜRKİYE ÖRNEĞİ

Abstract

Bu çalışma, çevrimiçi işgücü ile reel ekonomik faktörler arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemektedir. Çevrimiçi işgücü endeksi, GIG ekonomisinin temel belirleyicilerinden biri olduğu için bu çalışma, GIG ekonomisinin hangi makro ekonomik değişkenler temeline oturduğunu da ortaya koymaktadır. Çalışmanın amacı, reel ekonomik faktörlerin (işsizlik, ekonomik büyüme, enflasyon) çevrimiçi platform kullanıcı sayısı üzerindeki etkisini belirlemektir. Türkiye’nin 2017 Haziran-2021 Ocak dönemine ait veri seti ile yapılan ekonometrik analiz sonucunda, reel ekonomik faktörlerin online platform kullanıcı sayılarına istatistiksel olarak anlamlı etkisi olduğu belirlenmiştir. Analiz sonucuna göre, işsizlik oranı ve ekonomik büyümedeki artışlar online platform kullanıcı sayısında bir artışa neden olurken, enflasyondaki artış ise tam tersi bir etki yaratacaktır.

Keywords

• GIG Ekonomisi
• Çevrimiçi Emek Platformları
• İşsizlik
• Büyüme
• Enflasyon.

References

1. Aleksynska, M., Bastrakova, A., Kharchenko, N. (2019). “Working Conditions on Digital Labour Platforms: Evidence from a Leading Labour Supply Economy”, Social Science Research Network (SSRN), Paper ID: 3390235.
2. Atmaca, S. and Karadaş, H.A. (2020). “Decision Making on Financial Investment In Turkey By Using ARDL Long-Term Coefficients And AHP”, Financial Innovation, 6(1): 1-22
3. Benson, K.A, Nat, M.C., Agozie, D.Q., Edu, S.A. and Osemeahon, O.S. (2022). “Validating Digital Value from Digital Technology Adoption for Entrepreneurial Behaviour in Africa”, Boateng et al. (eds) Digital Innovations, Business and Society in Africa: New Frontiers and a Shared Strategic Vision, Switzerland, AG: Springer International Publishing.
4. Bertani, F., Raberto, M. and Teglio, A. (2020). “The Productivity and Unemployment Effects of the Digital Transformation: An Empirical and Modelling Assessment”, Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, 1(3): 329-355
5. Borup, D. and Schütte, E.C.M. (2022). “In Search of A Job: Forecasting Employment Growth Using Google Trends”, Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 40(1): 186-200
6. Boskin, M.J., Dulberger, E.L., Gordon, R.J., Griliches, Z. and Jorgenson, D.W. (1998). “Consumer Prices, the Consumer Price Index, and the Cost of Living”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12(1): 3-26
7. Braesemann, F., Lehdonvirta, V. and Kässi, O. (2022). “ICTs and the Urban-Rural Divide: Can Online Labour Platforms Bridge The Gap?” Information, Communication & Society, 25(1): 34-54
8. Chen, M. and Hu, X. (2018). “Linkage Between Consumer Price Index and Purchasing Power Parity: Theoretic and Empirical Study”, The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, 27(7): 729-760.

9. Corujo, B.S. (2017). “The ‘Gig’ Economy and its Impact on Social Security: The Spanish example”, European Journal of Social Security, 19(4): 293-312.
10. Dazzi, D. (2019). “GIG Economy in Europe”, Italian Labour Law E-Journal, 12(2): 67-122
11. Duca, J.V. (2018). “Inflation and the GIG Economy: Have the Rise of Online Retailing and Self-Employment Disrupted the Phillips Curve?” Social Science Research Network (SSRN), Paper ID: 3288395
12. Duch-Brown, N., Gomez-Herrera, E., Mueller-Langer, F. and Tolan, S. (2022). “Market Power and Artificial Intelligence Work on Online Labour Markets”, Research Policy, 51(3): 104446
13. Engle, R.F. and Granger, C.W. (1987). “Co-Integration and Error Correction: Representation, Estimation, and Testing.” Econometrica: journal of the Econometric Society, 55(2): 251-276
14. Flanagan, F. (2019). “Theorising the GIG Economy and Home-Based Service Work”, Journal of Industrial Relations, 61(1): 57-78
15. Fleming, P., Rhodes, C. and Yu, K.H. (2019). “On Why Uber has not Taken Over The World”, Economy and Society, 48(4): 488-509
16. Fumagalli, A., Lucarelli, S., Musolino, E. and Rocchi, G. (2018). “Digital Labour in the Platform Economy: The Case of Facebook”, Sustainability, 10(6): 1757.
17. Gandini, A. (2019). “Labour Process Theory and the GIG Economy”, Human Relations, 72(6): 1039-1056
18. Gong, S., Gu, J. and Teng, F. (2019). “The Impact of the Belt and Road Initiative Investment in Digital Connectivity and Information and Communication Technologies on Achieving the SDGs”, K4D Emerging Issues Report. Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies.
19. Huang, N., Burtch, G., Hong, Y. and Pavlou, P.A. (2020). “Unemployment and Worker Participation in the GIG Economy: Evidence from an Online Labour Market”, Information Systems Research, 31(2): 431-448
20. Hur, H. and Perry, J.L. (2019). “Job Security Rule Changes and Employee Organizational Commitment”, Review of Public Personnel Administration, 40(4): 641-668
21. ILO, IMF, OECD, UNECE, Eurostat, and The World Bank (2004). “Consumer Price Index Manual: Theory and Practice”, International Labour Office, Geneva.
22. ILO and UN (2021). “Sustaining Peace Through Decent Work and Employment”, International Labour Organization and United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland and New York, New York: ILO and DPPA
23. Jackman, R., Pissarides, C. and Savouri, S. (1990). “Labour Market Policies and Unemployment in the OECD”, Economic Policy, 5(11): 449-490
24. Jesnes, K. and Braesemann, F. (2019). “Measuring Online Labour: A Subcategory of Platform Work”, Nordic Future of Work, Brief 2. Oslo: Fafo.
25. Johansen, S. (1991). “Estimation and Hypothesis Testing of Cointegration Vectors in Gaussian Vector Autoregressive Models”, Econometrica: journal of the Econometric Society, 59(6):1551-1580
26. Kalleberg, A.L. and Dunn, M. (2016). “Good Jobs, Bad Jobs in the GIG Economy”, Perspectives on Work, 20(1-2): 10-73.
27. Kara, E. (2020). “Covid-19 Pandemisi: İşgücü Üzerindeki Etkileri ve İstihdam Tedbirleri”, Avrasya Sosyal ve Ekonomi Araştırmaları Dergisi, 7(5): 269-282
28. Karapınar, D. and Zorlutuna, Ş. (2022). “İşsizlik Süresine Etki Eden Faktörlerin Yaşam Analizi Yöntemleri ile Araştırılması”, Journal of Life Economics, 9(1): 1-19
29. Kässi, O. and Lehdonvirta, V. (2016). “Building the Online Labour Index: A Tool for Policy and Research”, CSCW ’16 Companion: Proceedings of the 19th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing Companion, New York
30. Kässi, O. and Lehdonvirta, V. (2018). “Online Labour Index: Measuring the Online GIG Economy for Policy and Research”, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 137: 241-248
31. Kawohl, W. and Nordt, C. (2020). “COVID-19, Unemployment, and Suicide”, The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(5): 389-390
32. Konny, C. (2020). “Modernizing Data Collection for the Consumer Price Index”, Business Economics, 55(1): 45-52
33. Kuek, S.C., Paradi-Guilford, C., Fayomi, T., Imaizumi, S. and Ipeirotis, P. (2015). “The Global Opportunity in Online Outsourcing”, Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group
34. Kuhn, K.M. (2016). “The Rise of the “GIG Economy” and Implications for Understanding Work and Workers”, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 9(1): 157-162
35. Lehdonvirta, V., Hjorth, I., Graham, M. and Barnard, H. (2015). “Online Labour Markets and the Persistence of Personal Networks: Evidence from Workers in Southeast Asia”, Presented in ASA 2015, in the Session on “The Changing Nature of Work in the Twenty-First Century”, Chicago.
36. Livingstone, D.W. (2019). “Underemployment of Highly Qualified Labour in Advanced Capitalism: Trends and Prospects”, Journal of Education and Work, 32(4): 305-319
37. Malatyalı, Ö. (2016). “Teknoloji Transferinin Ekonomik Büyüme Üzerine Etkisi: Türkiye Örneği 1989 – 2014”, Kastamonu Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 13(3): 62-73
38. Malik, F., Heeks, R., Masiero, S. and Nicholson, B. (2021). “Digital Labour Platforms in Pakistan: Institutional Voids and Solidarity Networks”, Information Technology & People, 34(7): 1819-1839
39. Mapira, D., Gerald, G. and Enerst, M.C. (2017). “Factors Affecting Labour and Leisure Time Decision: Evidence from Small and Medium Enterprises in Masvingo Urban”, Journal of Business & Financial Affairs, 6(1): 253-256
40. Martin, A., Markhvida, M., Hallegatte, S. and Walsh, B. (2020). “Socio-Economic Impacts of COVID-19 on Household Consumption and Poverty”, Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, 4(3): 453-479
41. Maslow, A.H. (1943). “A Theory of Human Motivation”, Psychological Review, 50(4): 370-396
42. Matolcsy, G., Nagy, M., Palotai, D. and Virág, B. (2020). “Inflation in the Digital Age: Inflation Measurement and Bias in the 21st Century”, Financial and Economic Review, 19(1): 5-36
43. Menger, P.M. (2017). “Contingent High-Skilled Work and Flexible Labour Markets. Creative Workers and Independent Contractors Cycling Between Employment and Unemployment”, Swiss Journal of Sociology, 43(2): 253-284
44. Murphy, G. and Siedschlag, I. (2013). “Human Capital and Growth of Information and Communication Technology-Intensive Industries: Empirical Evidence from Open Economies”, Regional Studies, 47(9): 1403-1424
45. Ojanpera, S. (2016). “Mapping the Availability of Online Labour”, University of Oxford, http://geonet.oii.ox.ac.uk/blog/mapping-the-availability-of-online-labour/ (25.01.2022).
46. Oranburg, S.C. (2018). “Unbundling Employment: Flexible Benefits for The GIG Economy”, Drexel Law Review, 11: 1-60.
47. Paul, S. and Tankus, N. (2019). “The Firm Exemption and The Hierarchy of Finance in The GIG Economy”, University of St. Thomas Law Journal, 16: 44.
48. Pesaran, M. and Shin, Y. (1995). “An Autoregressive Distributed Lag Modelling Approach to Cointegration Analysis”, Econometrics and Economic Theory in the 20th Century: The Ragnar Frisch Centennial Symposium, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
49. Pesaran, M.H., Shin, Y. and Smith, R.J. (2001). “Bounds Testing Approaches to The Analysis Of Level Relationships”, Journal of applied econometrics, 16(3): 289-326
50. Prassl, J. (2018). “Humans As a Service: The Promise and Perils of Work in The GIG Economy”, Oxford University Press.
51. Rahman, A.J. (2013). “An Econometric Analysis of the “Backward-Bending” Labour Supply of Canadian Women”, Undergraduate Economic Review, 10(1): 6.
52. Rani, U. and Furrer, M. (2021). “Digital Labour Platforms and New Forms of Flexible Work in Developing Countries: Algorithmic Management of Work And Workers”, Competition & Change, 25(2): 212-236
53. Rodriguez F., Sarraju A., Turakhia M.P. (2022). “The Gig Economy Worker—A New Social Determinant of Health?”, JAMA Cardiol. 7(2): 125-126.
54. Rostow, W.W. (1959). “The Stages of Economic Growth”, The Economic History Review, 3(1): 1-16.
55. Stephany, F., Kässi, O., Rani, U. and Lehdonvirta, V. (2021). “Online Labour Index 2020: New Ways to Measure the World’s Remote Freelancing Market”, Big Data & Society, 8(2): 1-7.
56. Stevenson, B. and Wolfers, J. (2008). “Economic Growth and Subjective Well⁃Being: Reassessing the Easterlin Paradox”, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, 39(1): 1-102
57. Sowell, T. (2014). “Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy”, New York: The Perseus Book Group.
58. Şengür, M. (2020). “Tersine Dönen Emek Arz Eğrisi: Türkiye Sınaması”, Yaşar Üniversitesi E-Dergisi, 15(58): 304-312
59. TemaNord (2021). “The future of work in the Nordic countries: opportunities and challenges for the Nordic working life models” Kristin Alsos and Jon Erik Dølvik (eds.) TemaNord:520, Nordic Council of Ministers.
60. Türkay, H. and Demirbaş, M. (2012). “Türkiye Ekonomisinde Yatırımların Faiz ve Gelir İlişkisinin ARDL Yaklaşımı ile Analizi”, Akademik Yaklaşımlar Dergisi, 3(2): 1-16.
61. Tushev, M., Ebrahimi, F. and Mahmoud, A.M. (2022). “A Systematic Literature Review of Anti-Discrimination Design Strategies in The Digital Sharing Economy”, in IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, doi: 10.1109/TSE.2021.3139961.
62. Vallas, S. and Schor, J.B. (2020). “What Do Platforms Do? Understanding the GIG Economy”, Annual Review of Sociology, 46(1): 273-294 Verbrugge, R.J. (2012). “Do The Consumer Price Index's Utilities Adjustments for Owners’ Equivalent Rent Distort Inflation Measurement?”, Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 30(1): 143-148
63. Woodcock, J. and Graham, M. (2019). “The Gig Economy”, London: Polity Press
64. Yıldız, F. (2012). “Telekomünikasyon Yatırımlarının Ekonomik Büyüme Üzerindeki Etkisi: OECD Ülkeleri Üzerine Ampirik Bir Çalışma”, Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 17(3): 233-258
65. Zheng, Y, Zhang, X and Zhu, Y. (2021). “Overeducation, Major Mismatch, and Return to Higher Education Tiers: Evidence from Novel Data Source of a Major Online Recruitment Platform in China”, China economic review, 66(1): 101584