Re-crafting the enterprise for the gig-economy

Much of the voluminous literature emerging on the gig economy and the impact of “platform”-based work on labour standards focusses on the vulnerability of workers to particular forms of exploitation: low rates of pay, precarious engagement, and unsafe working conditions. Proposed solutions often focus on classification problems: should these workers be classified as “employees” to become entitled to various labour rights? Classifying the worker as an “employee” necessarily assumes the existence of an “employer”. This paper explores the potential for a (possibly) more radical solution to worker exploitation, by investigating an alternative form of business organisation for these kinds of enterprises. The cooperative (well known in Europe, and in agriculture in Australasia) may provide an appropriate enterprise model in the so-called “sharing” economy.