When women enter male-dominated territories in the platform economy: gender inequalities among drivers and riders in Argentina

ABSTRACT

Platform labour, especially when it comes to its flexible schedules, may represent a job insertion possibility and a source of income for many women. However, such opportunities are not exempted from gender bias. This article inspects how the expansion of the platform economy affects gender inequalities by focusing on two platform occupations: ride-hailing and delivery services. First, it investigates gender gaps in terms of working hours and earnings via linear regression as well as their determinants. Second, qualitative data further deepen the analysis of female riders’ and drivers’ experience in male-dominated territories, exploring how it is perceived and endured by workers. This paper is based on qualitative and quantitative data collected in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires between 2019 and 2021. The analysis suggests that the gender-differentiated economic performance of riders and drivers is associated with demographic and on-the-job characteristics, implying restrictions for women workers in terms of how long, where, and when they can work. Algorithmic management further reinforces these initial female disadvantages, through tools such as scoring systems, dynamic pricing, and selective work allocation. The article concludes by providing some insights into a gender-transformative approach to the future regulation of these activities.

Le travail dans l’économie des plateformes, surtout en raison des emplois du temps flexibles qu’elle propose, peut représenter une possibilité d’insertion professionnelle et une source de revenus pour de nombreuses femmes. Cependant, ces opportunités n’échappent pas aux préjugés sexistes. Cet article examine en quoi l’expansion de l’économie des plateformes influe sur les inégalités de genre en se concentrant sur deux occupations basées sur des plateformes: les services de taxi et de livraison. Il examine en premier lieu les écarts entre les genres pour ce qui est des horaires de travail et des revenus en utilisant une régression linéaire, ainsi que leurs déterminants. En deuxième lieu, des données qualitatives permettent d’approfondir l’analyse de l’expérience des coureurs et chauffeurs de sexe féminin dans des territoires dominés par les hommes, en examinant comment cette expérience est perçue et endurée par les travailleurs. Cette étude se fonde sur des données qualitatives et quantitatives recueillies dans la zone métropolitaine de Buenos Aires entre 2019 et 2021. L’analyse suggère que les différences sexospécifiques des performances économiques des coureurs et des chauffeurs sont associées à des caractéristiques démographiques et dans le cadre du travail, ce qui suppose des restrictions pour les travailleuses quant au temps qu’elles peuvent consacrer à leur travail, aux lieux où elles peuvent travailler et aux moments auxquels elles peuvent le faire. La gestion algorithmique renforce encore ces désavantages initiaux pour les femmes, à travers des outils comme les systèmes de notation, la tarification dynamique et l’assignation sélective du travail. En conclusion, l’article propose quelques idées en vue d’une approche sexotransformatrice de la réglementation future de ces activités.

Gracias a sus horarios flexibles, el trabajo de plataformas digitales puede representar una posibilidad de empleo y una fuente de ingresos para muchas mujeres. Sin embargo, estas oportunidades no están exentas de prejuicios de género. Este artículo analiza cómo la expansión de la economía de plataformas digitales incide en las desigualdades de género, centrándose en dos ocupaciones de plataforma: el transporte y el servicio de reparto. En primer lugar, investiga las diferencias a nivel de género en términos de horas de trabajo e ingresos, empleando para ello una regresión lineal y sus determinantes. En segundo lugar, a partir de la información cualitativa recabada, profundiza en el análisis de la experiencia de conductoras y repartidoras en territorios dominados por hombres, examinando cómo la perciben y soportan. El estudio se basa en datos cualitativos y cuantitativos obtenidos en el Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires entre 2019 y 2021. El análisis sugiere que el rendimiento económico diferenciado por género de repartidores y conductores está asociado a características demográficas y laborales, lo que implica restricciones para las trabajadoras en términos de cuánto tiempo, dónde y cuándo pueden trabajar. La gestión realizada por algoritmos refuerza aún más las desventajas iniciales que afectan a las mujeres, mediante herramientas como los sistemas de puntuación, los precios dinámicos y la asignación selectiva del trabajo. El artículo concluye aportando algunas ideas para implementar un enfoque transformador que tome en cuenta las distinciones de género en la futura regulación de estas actividades.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital labour platforms
• gender
• gender gaps
• decent work
• Argentina

Acknowledgements

This article is part of the research partnership between Universidad Nacional General Sarmiento (UNGS) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) for the project ‘Platform economy and personal services in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area: implications on working conditions and gender inequalities’. The authors are grateful to the many workers interviewed and to the platforms for their co-operation in making this work possible. The authors would also like to thank Carlos Pincemin (AFD) and Valeria Esquivel (ILO) for their comments and suggestions. Thanks to the AFD agency in Buenos Aires, the officers from the Ministry of Labour and other governmental agencies who participated in the project validation workshop held in August 2020. Thanks to the participants of the 17th Conference on Labour Market and Equity (UNGS, Argentina), WORK2021 Conference (University of Turku, Finland), 15th National Congress of Labour Studies (ASET, Argentina), LVI annual meeting of the Argentine Association of Political Economy (AAEP, Argentina), and 30th IAFFE Conference for useful feedback. This paper also benefited from data shared by the ILO Country Office for Argentina, which AFD and UNGS warmly acknowledge for the collaboration. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this article are solely of the authors and do not necessarily reflect institutional views.

Notes

1 Information is provided by the company to the press, see Infobae (2019) and Los Andes (2021). In contrast, in 2019 women represented only 2.7 per cent of licensed taxi drivers in the City of Buenos Aires (https://chequeado.com/el-explicador/taxis-portenos-el-3-de-los-conductores-son-mujeres/, last checked 3 October 2021).

2 Glovo and Uber Eats left the country by the end of 2020.

3 Interviews carried out during the pandemic were conducted by phone.

4 This study’s survey adopted the ILO questionnaire as a guide for the design of its questionnaires. In terms of comparability, most core questions are elicited the same way.

5 For robustness, the article assesses the introduction of other controls: household size, tenure on the platform (months), being the primary caretaker for the dependants, being the main income provider, or the presence of other income earners in the household. The inclusion of said covariates does not modify the primary results presented (available on request).

6 In delivery platforms workers are ranked taking into account the accumulated number of orders completed, the acceptance rate (percentage of requests accepted based on total requests received), the cancellation rate (percentage of requests cancelled after being accepted), as well as the assessment of clients.

7 Uber drivers are scored by the platform combining the acceptance rate, the cancellation rate, as well as the assessment of clients.

8 It is worth noting that the few female interviewees who rented cars recounted experiencing discrimination in digital forums for renting, in the form of lack of replies from most car owners and even mockery from male counterparts who were also seeking to rent a vehicle.

9 The delivery sector has experienced some progress, since seven draft bills were presented in the few past years, but these are yet to be included in the Congress agenda (Pereyra and Poblete 2022).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Agence Française de Développement under the research partnership collaboration for the project ‘Platform economy and personal services in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area: implications on working conditions and gender inequalities’.

Notes on contributors

Ariela Micha

Ariela Micha is a feminist economist based in the Economics Department at the Universidad Nacional General Sarmiento, Argentina. She holds a postdoctoral fellowship granted by the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, CONICET). Ariela does research on gender and the labour market as well as on care policies. She holds a PhD in Social Sciences from the Universidad Nacional General Sarmiento. Postal address: Ave. Cabildo 1730, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, C1426ABR, Argentina. Email: [email protected]

Cecilia Poggi

Cecilia Poggi is a labour economist and Research Officer at the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Research Department, conducting research on social protection, the world of work, informality, and social inclusion. Cecilia holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Sussex, UK. Email: [email protected]

Francisca Pereyra

Francisca Pereyra is a sociologist and Profesora Adjunta based in the Economics Department at the Universidad Nacional General Sarmiento, Argentina. She does research on gender and the labour market as well as on care policies. Francisca holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Essex, UK. Email: [email protected]