Online price comparison agents (shopbots) allow consumers to instantaneously receive price and other information from many online retailers. Online consumer clickstream data from ComScore Inc. demonstrate that consumers are increasingly using shopbots to conduct search. This phenomenon raises...

In this report, we discuss three aspects of online labor markets. First, we give an overview of the current state of major online marketplaces that offer intermediary services for buyer companies and IT professionals with a focus on one marketplace in particular – Freelancer. Second, we show...

The role of online gig platforms in local labor markets has recently been debated with two competing predictions: online gig platforms either complement local employment by matching service demand and supply and creating job opportunities, or substitute local employment by obsoleting workers...

This paper focuses on how information and technology drive digital business innovation in business ecosystems where multiple co-contributors work together to innovate new business models. Specifically, we develop a framework based on two novel concepts — (1) digital business innovation (DBI)...

Online labor markets, two-sided platforms that match buyers with freelancers for IT services, have become increasingly important for sourcing labor and creating jobs around the globe. However, matching buyers and freelancers is challenging, largely because of the difficulty in pricing...

The gig economy has low barriers to entry, enabling flexible work arrangements and allowing workers to engage in contingent employment, whenever, and in some cases, such as online labor markets, wherever workers desire. The growth of the gig economy has been partly attributed to technological...