Labor market outcomes under digital platform business models in the sharing economy: the case of the taxi services industry

This research investigates the effects of ride-sharing online platforms on the taxi and limousine industry. It also compares and contrasts labor market outcomes between conventional taxi drivers and Uber drivers during the Covid-19 pandemic. The empirical study finds that Uber’s online platform has an inconsequential impact on labor supply and earnings among conventional taxi drivers. It suggests that taxi drivers under the traditional employment system behave differently from Uber drivers under an online business platform in the sharing economy, which is further construed by a standard theory that illustrates the operations of the sharing economy.