Knowledge Work in the Sharing Economy: What Drives Project Success in Online Labor Markets?

42 Pages Posted: 23 Jan 2018 Last revised: 9 Oct 2018

See all articles by Jörg Claussen

Jörg Claussen

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) - Faculty of Business Administration (Munich School of Management); Copenhagen Business School - Department of Innovation and Organizational Economics

Pooyan Khashabi

ESSEC Business School

Tobias Kretschmer

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) - Faculty of Business Administration (Munich School of Management); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Mareike Seifried

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich - Faculty of Business Administration (Munich School of Management); ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Date Written: October 2018

Abstract

Online labor markets (OLMs) are an integral part of the sharing economy. While these platforms offer huge matching efficiencies and cost benefits, managing performance in their projects is still a challenge. Taking an agency theory perspective, we study the determinants of project performance in the context of OLMs. We theorize pre-contract OLM-related features that can serve as a credible signal to alleviate problems about hidden information about an agent’s type. Moreover, we investigate how OLM-related factors interact with the (post-contract) problem of hidden action, which eventually influences the performance in OLMs. Using an extensive and novel dataset from Upwork— a leading OLM platform worldwide— we test our theoretical arguments and provide implications for research and practice.

Keywords: sharing economy, online labor markets, project performance, agency, hidden action, hidden information

Suggested Citation

Claussen, Jörg and Khashabi, Pooyan and Kretschmer, Tobias and Seifried, Mareike and Seifried, Mareike, Knowledge Work in the Sharing Economy: What Drives Project Success in Online Labor Markets? (October 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3102865 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3102865

Jörg Claussen (Contact Author)

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) - Faculty of Business Administration (Munich School of Management) ( email )

Kaulbachstr. 45
Munich, DE 80539
Germany

Copenhagen Business School - Department of Innovation and Organizational Economics ( email )

Kilevej 14A
Frederiksberg, 2000
Denmark

Pooyan Khashabi

ESSEC Business School ( email )

1 Avenue Bernard Hirsch
Cergy, 50105
France

Tobias Kretschmer

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) - Faculty of Business Administration (Munich School of Management) ( email )

Kaulbachstr. 45
Munich, DE 80539
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Mareike Seifried

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich - Faculty of Business Administration (Munich School of Management) ( email )

Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1
Munich, DE Bavaria 80539
Germany

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1
D-68034 Mannheim, 68034
Germany

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