Events

Mr. Pascuel Plotkin

Online-delivery platforms are part of a recent wave of technologies that reshape work force composition and demand for goods. While these platforms can provide new opportunities for workers with limited outside options, they may also replace “good jobs”. This paper uses unique data linking employer-employee records with restaurants and workers from a major Brazilian delivery platform, along with a matched event-study design, to estimate the impact of platform adoption on labor market outcomes. Adopting restaurants, on average, replace waiters with outsourced platform workers one-to-one. Workers at adopting restaurants experience modest earnings losses, as most displaced employees find new formal sector jobs. In contrast, non-adopting restaurants tend to downsize or shut down, with their workers facing greater earnings losses due to increased displacement risks. However, the earnings gains for gig workers outweigh the losses faced by restaurant employees. These findings offer insights into the distributional effects and trade-offs of online-delivery platforms.