The DOI matches its Crossref record; 35 of the 36 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Uber happy? Work and well-being in the ‘Gig Economy’
Abstract
SUMMARY We study the rise of the so-called ‘gig economy’ through the lens of Uber and its drivers in the United Kingdom. Using administrative data from Uber and a new representative survey of London drivers, we explore their backgrounds, earnings, and subjective well-being. We find that the vast majority of Uber drivers are male immigrants, primarily drawn from the bottom half of the London income distribution. Most transitioned out of permanent part- or full-time jobs and about half of drivers’ report that their incomes increased after partnering with Uber. After covering vehicle operation costs and Uber’s service fee, we estimate that the median London driver earns about £11 per hour spent logged into the app. But while Uber drivers remain at the lower end of the London income distribution, they report higher levels of life satisfaction than other workers. Consistent with a trade-off between evaluative and emotional well-being observed among the self-employed, they also report higher anxiety levels. We hypothesize that the higher life satisfaction among Uber drivers partly reflects their preferences for flexibility and the autonomy that the platform offers. We provide suggestive evidence showing that drivers who emphasize flexibility as an important motivation to join Uber also report higher levels of subjective well-being. However, a minority of drivers who report that they would prefer work as an employee report lower levels of life satisfaction and higher levels of anxiety. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of non-monetary factors in shaping the welfare of workers in the gig economy.
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In the citing paper
“Similar to other self-employed workers, Uber drivers also reported higher anxiety levels than other London workers (Berger et al., 2019).”
From Gig work and gig workers: An integrative review and agenda for future research (2024) · cites this paper as Berger et al., 2019
In the citing paper
“With a representative survey of London Uber drivers, Berger et al. (2019) found that although Uber drivers remain at the lower end of income distribution, they reported higher levels of life satisfaction than other London workers in traditional work arrangements.”
From Gig work and gig workers: An integrative review and agenda for future research (2024) · cites this paper as Berger et al. (2019)
In the citing paper
“Berger et al. (2019) found that those who value flexibility and autonomy tend to report higher life satisfaction, whereas those who prefer work as an employee tend to report lower life satisfaction and higher anxiety.”
From Gig work and gig workers: An integrative review and agenda for future research (2024) · cites this paper as Berger et al. (2019)
Citations
Cites
Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being
Kahneman, D., & Krueger, A. B. (2006) · Journal of Economic Perspectives · doi:10.1257/089533006776526030 · Cited by 3,177
High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being
Kahneman, D., & Deaton, A. (2010) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1011492107 · Cited by 3,162 · cited 2×
“, happiness and anxiety) in columns 6 and 7 is also consistent with the argument that income mainly affects evaluative, rather than emotional, well-being (Kahneman and Deaton, 2010).”
BackgroundResultRelative Income, Happiness, and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles
Clark, A. E., Frijters, P., & Shields, M. A. (2008) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/jel.46.1.95 · Cited by 3,159
Satisfaction and comparison income
Clark, A. E., & Oswald, A. J. (1996) · Journal of Public Economics · doi:10.1016/0047-2727(95)01564-7 · Cited by 2,960
Blanchflower, D. G., & Oswald, A. J. (1998) · Journal of Labor Economics · doi:10.1086/209881 · Cited by 2,357
Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Algorithmic Control in the Global Gig Economy
Wood, A. J., Graham, M., Lehdonvirta, V., & Hjorth, I. (2019) · Work, Employment and Society · doi:10.1177/0950017018785616 · Cited by 2,209
Frey, B. S., & Stutzer, A. (2002) · Princeton University Press eBooks · doi:10.1515/9781400829262 · Cited by 1,970
Income and well-being: an empirical analysis of the comparison income effect
Ada Ferrer-i-carbonell, A. (2004) · Journal of Public Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2004.06.003 · Cited by 1,952
The Blinder–Oaxaca Decomposition for Linear Regression Models
Jann, B. (2008) · The Stata Journal Promoting communications on statistics and Stata · doi:10.1177/1536867x0800800401 · Cited by 1,867
Does Entrepreneurship Pay? An Empirical Analysis of the Returns to Self‐Employment
Hamilton, B. H. (2000) · Journal of Political Economy · doi:10.1086/262131 · Cited by 1,851
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Ferrer-I-Carbonell, 2004, How important is methodology for the estimates of the determinants of happiness?, The Economic Journal, 114, 641, 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2004.00235.x · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Working on my own: Measuring the challenges of gig work
Caza, B. B., Reid, E. M., Ashford, S. J., & Granger, S. (2022) · Human Relations · doi:10.1177/00187267211030098 · Cited by 249
The ethical debate about the gig economy: A review and critical analysis
Tan, Z. M., Aggarwal, N., Cowls, J., Morley, J., Taddeo, M., & Floridi, L. (2021) · Technology in Society · doi:10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101594 · Cited by 225
Zhang, A., Boltz, A., Wang, C. W., & Lee, M. K. (2022) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3491102.3501866 · Cited by 166
Gig work and gig workers: An integrative review and agenda for future research
Wu, D., & Huang, J. L. (2024) · Journal of Organizational Behavior · doi:10.1002/job.2775 · Cited by 168
Gig Workers during the COVID-19 Crisis in France: Financial Precarity and Mental Well-Being
Apouey, B., Roulet, A., Solal, I., & Stabile, M. (2020) · Journal of Urban Health · doi:10.1007/s11524-020-00480-4 · Cited by 145
Metadata
- Authors
- Berger, T., Frey, C. B., Levin, G., & Danda, S. R.
- Affiliations
- Lund University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Berger, Thor
- Venue
- Economic Policy
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2019-07-01
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 99
- Pages
- 429-477
- ISSN
- 0266-4658 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-0327
- OpenAlex
- W2903427932
- Cited by
- 267
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 45 · 2025: 51 · 2024: 56 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 5
- FWCI
- 38.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
- Locations
- Economic Policy (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Lund University Publications (Lund University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Economy and Work Transformation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Employment and Welfare Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Keywords
- gig economy, Uber drivers, subjective well-being, life satisfaction, anxiety, work flexibility, self-employment, immigrant workers, earnings, job loss, employment status, platform work, London
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