Firms in the sharing economy have developed numerous innovative services. Using the power of advanced information and communication technologies and distributed computing, they have reorganized production of these services in ways that are altering the landscape of employment and working conditions more broadly. Although this transformation has provided participants with more degrees of flexibility in their work schedule and location, there is also evidence that an increasing number of individuals face unreliable income prospects and limited or no benefits. This dissertation investigates the effects of granting providers of ride-sharing services, a menu of contracts with varying flexibility on their willingness to offer their services through a platform. Ride-sharing is one of the largest sectors in the sharing economy and can provide insights that can apply to other services in this emerging sector. Using a choice experiment with 406 participants, the study examines how diversification of contractual attributes (minimum required driving hours, minimum wage guarantee, benefit plans, and the amount of auto insurance deductible) affects drivers’ willingness to work for the online platform. It also investigates whether service providers’ preferences for flexibility and stability in the platform business are influenced by alternative employment options. Results show that the willingness to work for ride-sharing generally increases when the ride-sharing company provides a minimum wage guarantee, a company-sponsored benefit plans, and technological features which protect drivers from unwanted incidents by passengers. Drivers are willing to accept work conditions specifying minimum required driving hours for ride-sharing in return for the ability to participate in a ride-sharing company-sponsored benefits. Additionally, finding suggest a negative association between drivers’ willingness to work for ride-sharing platforms and the perceived job flexibility of their primary job. A similar relation exists between the willingness to work for ride-sharing and perceived security of their primary job. Finally, the results show a positive association between the willingness to work for ride-sharing platforms and contract flexibility of workers’ primary job. Overall, the dissertation contributes to the research literature on the sharing economy, platform governance, and the emergent research on the role of work conditions on labor supply. It offers practical insights on how platform design and governance can contribute to more stable and extensive supply of services on the platform that can contribute to development of more sustainable and valuable business models.
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