Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 393 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in August 2024 and provides metadata for each entry, such as geographical scope, year, type of initiative, actors involved, sector and companies concerned. Initiatives include legal instruments such as legislative changes or court decisions, as well as voluntary interventions undertaken by different stakeholders to address issues around platform work.
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The database currently contains 393 entries and was last updated in August 2024.
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Inactive
United Kingdom
Since 2016, the Online Labour Index has measured the supply and demand of online labour across the world by tracking the number of projects and tasks across five of the largest English-language platforms (about 70% of the market by traffic) in real time. Since 2017, the iLabour project also records, analyses and visualises worker voice and collective action online, by tracking the geographical location from which dissatisfaction is expressed on the forums of the platforms. The data and visualisations are available under an open access licence. The iLabour project is funded by the European Research Council from September 2015 until August 2020 (see more information).
Further reading:
The platform economy is one of those moving targets, which, despite receiving increasing media and policy attention, has proven difficult to regulate. Given the heterogeneity of employment relationships, business models, types of platform work and cross-border issues, this is not surprising.
Technological change is accelerating as the capacity of electronic devices to digitally store, process and communicate information expands. Digitalisation is transforming the EU economy and labour markets: nearly one-third of EU workplaces are categorised as highly digitalised. What are the implications of the digital revolution for employment and work?
The rapid rise of the platform economy has led to a marked transformation of European labour markets, and existing regulatory frameworks and voluntary initiatives have yet to catch up. While platform work offers opportunities for workers and employers and potentially contributes to innovation, economic growth and competitiveness in the EU, it has been criticised from the beginning because of the poor employment and working conditions often experienced by workers.
While 2020 may come to be seen as the year platform work gathered pace and started to go mainstream – thanks in large part to COVID-19 containment measures sparking an increase in food and grocery delivery – 2021 could be the year that regulation of platform work is set in motion.
