Gig Workers – What Makes it Worth It?

The gig economy with the freedom to work on a flexible schedule of your own choosing has an appeal like no other. But what exactly makes it that appealing? And what is the value of the gig economy? Yale SOM’s Judith Chevalier and her co-authors used extensive data on Uber drivers and examined their driving patterns to understand the economic value of flexible scheduling. They found that rideshare drivers would have to earn as much as double to accept less-flexible arrangements. The team calculate the value of flexible work by looking at the minimum wage a person requires to make a job worthwhile at various times.