Dottorato in ECONOMIA POLITICA

Titolo della tesi: Three essays on digital platforms and their impact on labour

Digital platforms have had a profound impact on the economy. They have changed (or created) entire industries, with consequences for workers. Labour has been created, redefined, and destroyed in various ways: competition in urban labour markets, enhanced flexibility in firms in the service sector, new tasks performed directly through dedicated platforms. The three essays in this the- sis address the underlying uncertainty platforms have engendered in the labour market, and find relevant decreases in wages related to Amazon presence in cities and to participation in an online labour platform, increases in the share of non-standard employment in firms using platforms in the hospitality and restaurant industries and in income inequality for platform workers generally.