The advent of online platforms has been considered to be one of the most significant economic changes of the last decade, with their emergence reflecting a longer trend of increasing contingent work, labor market flexibility, and outsourcing work to independent contractors. In this article, we conceptualize the so‐called gig economy along four dimensions, namely, online intermediation, independent contractors, paid tasks, and personal services. Using this framework, it is possible to derive both a narrow definition of the gig economy, as ex ante specified, paid tasks carried out by independent contractors mediated by online platforms, and broader definitions that include offline alongside online intermediation, employees alongside independent contractors, unpaid tasks alongside paid tasks, and asset sharing alongside performing gigs. The four dimensions also span four key regulatory questions: How should online platforms be classified and regulated; how should gig workers be classified and regulated; what should count as paid and unpaid work; and should we treat earnings from performing gigs differently than earnings from sharing assets? We conclude that the positions taken on these regulatory issues are essentially contingent upon political choices and will determine how the gig economy evolves in the future.

中文翻译：

---

零工经济及其监管问题的概念化

在线平台的出现被认为是过去十年中最重大的经济变化之一，其出现反映了增加临时工作，劳动力市场灵活性以及将工作外包给独立承包商的较长趋势。在本文中，我们从四个方面对所谓的零工经济进行概念化，即在线中介，独立承包商，有偿任务和个人服务。使用该框架，既可以得出事前经济的狭义定义，也可以事前指定，由在线平台介导的独立承包商执行的有偿任务，也可以得到更广泛的定义，包括离线与在线中介，员工与独立承包商，无偿任务和有偿任务，以及资产共享和演出。这四个方面还涉及四个关键的监管问题：应如何对在线平台进行分类和监管；演出工人应如何分类和监管；应该算作有偿和无偿工作的内容；我们应该将演出演出的收益与资产共享的收益区别对待吗？我们得出的结论是，在这些监管问题上采取的立场基本上取决于政治选择，并将决定演出经济在未来的发展方式。我们应该将演出演出的收益与资产共享的收益区别对待吗？我们得出的结论是，在这些监管问题上采取的立场基本上取决于政治选择，并将决定演出经济在未来的发展方式。我们应该将演出演出的收益与资产共享的收益区别对待吗？我们得出的结论是，在这些监管问题上采取的立场基本上取决于政治选择，并将决定演出经济在未来的发展方式。