The Impact of COVID-19 on the Gig Economy
Problem Definition: Over a tenth of the US workforce is reliant on gig work for their primary income, and the COVID-19 outbreak has severely reduced the availability of jobs in the ride-hailing industry. Utilizing publicly available data from the City of Chicago and New York, we study how the COVID-19 outbreak has impacted consumer and driver behavior in the ride-hailing industry.
Practical Relevance: We hope to offer new insights into the impact of COVID-19 on the US economy. We will analyze the extent to which the market has reacted to COVID-19 which is important for government policymaking such as distributing unemployment benefits and offering temporary contracts to drivers. This study will determine the magnitude of COVID-19’s demand and supply shocks and offer insights into the future of the gig economy.
Methodology: Using large datasets from the City of Chicago and New York, we analyzed COVID-19’s impact on consumer location preferences based on community areas in Chicago. Afterwards, we observed the distribution of drivers amongst firms in New York City.
Results: Overall, the total number of trips and revenues experienced a sharp decline. A stronger demand shock than supply shock occurred in the gig economy due to COVID-19 conditions. Consumer behavior was geographically influenced as preference for drop off community areas were also impacted by their COVID-19 Case and Death rates. The distributions of firms also changed as COVID-19 resulted in an increase of unemployment amongst drivers and firms closing due to weak demand.
Key words: gig economy, COVID-19, unemployment, Chicago, New York City, demand shock, supply shock, companies, Uber, Lyft
Working Paper: https://sites.google.com/view/impact-of-covid-on-gig-economy/home
Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TrLWhO4pw3UxAMOqbxB4MX5Y-TwCzk1b/view?usp=sharing
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Comments
This is such an important …
This is such an important (and urgent) topic! What are the next stages of the project? I am wondering if states with a different make up (politically, in terms of COVID spread, economically) will see different results than NY or Illinois.
This is such an important …
This is such an important (and urgent) topic! What are the next stages of the project? I am wondering if states with a different make up (politically, in terms of COVID spread, economically) will see different results than NY or Illinois.
Industry Comparison
This is super fascinating! It makes sense to me that there is a demand shock given people aren't traveling and there is nowhere to be. I wonder how this change compares to industry trends in transportation. Was this decrease larger or smaller than declines in the usage of public transportation?
Interesting Comparison
This is really cool work. I was wondering whether you think that this shock in ride-sharing demand will be mitigated in the near future. If so, what are the catalysts for this: vaccines, higher safety precautions, etc.?
Philadelphia?
Have you been able to analyze similar trends in Philadelphia? I'm curious how the trend would translate here, or if there is even data that is publicly available from Philadelphia to analyze such trends. Overall, really cool topic and execution!
Fascinating
This is fascinating! I'd imagine this dip in demand will hold steady until the end of the pandemic.
Future Directions
As the pandemic continues to disrupt the economy, what insights from your research can inform public policy decisions? Internationally, do you expect to see similar trends in this sector of the economy?
Future Directions
As the pandemic continues to disrupt the economy, what insights from your research can inform public policy decisions? Internationally, do you expect to see similar trends in this sector of the economy?
Very needed topic!
I am curious to see how these trends play out in other states outside of NY and Chicago. What are the predominant impetuses causing this increase in ride-sharing demand and do you think that after the pandemic we will be able to restore economic equilibrium?
Interesting Topic
This is such an interesting topic, especially because it is something very relatable to most of us! I am interested to see if the decrease in demand is still continuing at the same rate.
Future shocks
This was very interesting! I do have a couple questions: as a result of this crisis and the possibility of future supply and demand shocks, do you expect the gig economy to grow or decline in the coming years? Furthermore, how do you believe that public policy should address the shocks to the gig economy, given its large size? Lastly, did you find any differences between your applications of the different models? Or did they unilaterally agree on the effects?
Extremely relevant
This is such a relevant and interesting topic! How do you plan to utilize the results from your research and analysis? In what ways could the results inform modifications or changes to the gig economy?
Hi Sandra! This is a very…
Hi Sandra!
This is a very interesting and a very important topic to shed light on now! For reaching a larger audience, maybe defining the current gig economy in your poster would be helpful. Your findings make a lot of sense, and I think this situation will remain until the pandemic is over. I was wondering whether we would see the same trends even after the pandemic for a while considering that people would fear social interactions after having lived during the pandemic for a few months? And whether we would see more demand on private transportation for people who can afford it?
Amazing work!
Amazing work!
I really appreciate how timely your research is, as well as how accessible you made this presentation for non-business students. I greatly enjoyed your video--really amazing work!
Incredible
I really enjoyed your work! Are they any changes or regulations you think that could help us protect workers in the gig economy?