MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATIONS


Becoming a pirate: independence as an alternative


to exit in the gig economy British Journal of Industrial Relations, 61, 1, March 2023 LINK TO PAPER


MICHAEL MAFFIE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR


Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration


Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Cornell University


Author • Michael Maffie Assistant Professor, Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of


Hotel Administration, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University Summary


For scholars of the workplace, organizational exit is one of the longest- running topics of inquiry. Yet, with the emergence of the online platform economy, there is a divide in the way scholars and practitioners describe the idea of ‘quitting.’ For some workers, ‘exit’ appears to be as easy as closing an app, yet others report feeling ‘trapped’ in these jobs. How and why do platform workers ‘quit’?


Drawing on original qualitative data from 84 ride-hail drivers, Maffie finds that platform companies use information asymmetries to downplay the true cost of working a ‘gig’. Once workers realize these costs, some exit, yet others cannot because they have come to rely on their ride-hail income to meet their short-term needs, a phenomenon the author refers to as ‘acquired depen- dence’. In response, the author finds these workers begin their own ‘pirate’ (illegal) taxi operations to decrease their dependence on platform companies. Tese findings are then used to develop an original survey instrument that tests if ‘acquired dependence’ is associated with ‘pirate’ taxi operations. Using survey data from 330 ride-hail drivers, the author finds evidence that drivers with greater acquired dependence are more likely to develop off-app ‘pirate’ taxi operations. In doing so, this article develops both a new category of con- flict and response for marketized employment relationships.


TO IMPACT CONTENTS


RESEARCH WITH IMPACT: CORNELL SC JOHNSON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS • 2023 EDITION


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