Which employment mode is more competitive in a digital economy? A study on income differences of flexible employment
Kangyin Lu, Liwen Jia, Si Chen
Keywords:
digital economy, digital flexible employment, flexible employment, income
competitiveness，gender differences
Abstract:
The digital economy has increased the competitiveness of economies worldwide, accelerated
dramatic changes in employment trends, and driven the rapid growth of flexible employment
in China. We use micro survey data from the China General Social Survey (CGSS) in 2013,
2015, 2017, and 2018 to empirically analyze the income competitiveness differences under
different flexible employment modes in the context of the digital economy as well as the
differences in income competitiveness between genders, and deconstruct the differences. It is
found that the development of digital economy improves income competitiveness in the flexible
employment market. The income competitiveness of the digital flexibly employed is higher
than that of the traditionally flexibly employed. And in terms of gender differences, females
benefit more from digital flexible employment modes. Moreover, the self-employed have
higher income competitiveness than the regularly employed, especially the digital flexible selfemployed.
Finally, in the context of the rapid development of the digital economy, there is a
two-tier structure in the flexible employment labor market, and the wage penalty suffered by
flexible workers at the bottom of the wage distribution is greater, which increases the internal
income gap of flexible workers and exacerbates the income polarization. Therefore, public
policies should focus on enhancing the employment competitiveness of flexible employment
workers in the low-income quantile.
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 Which employment mode is more competitive in a digital economy? A study on income differences of flexible employment [PDF file] [Filesize: 464.13 KB]
 10.7441/joc.2023.02.03
Lu, K., Jia, L. & Chen, S. (2023). Which employment mode is more competitive in a digital economy?
A study on income differences of flexible employment. Journal of Competitiveness, 15(2), 36-53. https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2023.02.03
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