CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020
| Author | Golusin, Slobodan |
|---|---|
| Title | Formation of informal and decentralized value chains through platform outsourcing: Exploring the network of Serbian UpWork freelancers |
| Summary | This thesis explored the case of the formation of value chains through the outsourcing of work via digital labour markets. It illuminates on how these value chains span beyond digital labour market UpWork and are built on the local relations within Serbian freelance network. The main question of the thesis is how the organization of production specific to UpWork, as well as locally conditioned market positions and structural differences of freelancers, shape the relations within this network. Firstly, I analyse how the value chains span into the network through re-outsourcing of work between freelancers and enable value capture for individual freelancers. Those who outsource act as suppliers in the value chains and depend on trust relations with their subcontractors, while those subcontractors who are in weak structural positions both on the platform and domestic labour market depend on them for access to jobs and platform reputation. Secondly, I show how the network is utilized for learning, as well as social and emotional support. As freelancers act as fragmented suppliers of which majority is in extremely precarious positions and acts mostly as a labour reserve army, these processes are needed for their further engagement in the market. Furthermore, due to structural constraints, this network lacks capacities for political organization and it serves primarily individuals to compete within these value chains. Thus, the processes of value creation and capture, learning and cooperation, as well as relational work, which are regularly integrated into firm value chains, are in the case of platform outsourcing dispersed and decentralized throughout the freelance networks constructed from the bottom-up. |
| Supervisor | Zentai, Violetta; Cucu Sandra-Alina |
| Department | Sociology MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2020/golusin_slobodan.pdf |
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