Help or hinder? Examining the interplay between gig work and venture creation in a developing economy
(2025) ENTN19 20251Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- The gig economy has expanded rapidly across the globe, and has become an increasingly influential feature of modern labour markets. The flexibility and autonomy offered by gig work coupled with the ability to earn a steady income are recognised benefits by many workers on digital platforms. These benefits can work synergistically with entrepreneurship, which is often characterised by uncertain time demands and financial volatility. Consensus, however, has not been reached as to whether the gig economy helps or hinders entrepreneurship. This is particularly relevant in developing countries such as South Africa which are marked by relatively high unemployment and lower average incomes. To further explore the intersection of gig work and... (More)
- The gig economy has expanded rapidly across the globe, and has become an increasingly influential feature of modern labour markets. The flexibility and autonomy offered by gig work coupled with the ability to earn a steady income are recognised benefits by many workers on digital platforms. These benefits can work synergistically with entrepreneurship, which is often characterised by uncertain time demands and financial volatility. Consensus, however, has not been reached as to whether the gig economy helps or hinders entrepreneurship. This is particularly relevant in developing countries such as South Africa which are marked by relatively high unemployment and lower average incomes. To further explore the intersection of gig work and entrepreneurship we embarked on semi-structured interviews with a cohort of purposively selected Uber drivers in South Africa. This not only introduced us to a diverse group of engaging and inspiring individuals but also yielded rich insights through the application of the Gioia methodology and its sequential coding approach. Contextualising the findings within existing literature, our analysis provided support for a dynamic and bidirectional transition model for hybrid entrepreneurship within the gig economy as opposed to the more linear process traditionally described in formal employment contexts. Moreover, our findings suggest that income support and entrepreneurial uncertainty reduction are not the only notable benefits transferred from gig work to venture creation. In the context of the gig economy, we found lead generation, skills development and opportunity recognition to be significant and consistent spillovers into the parallel venture. Both these findings suggest the need for further research into these aspects of hybrid entrepreneurship in the context of the gig economy as well as in different study regions. Policy makers intent on driving economic growth can also take heed of the wide range of benefits offered by gig work in the support of entrepreneurship. For the interviewees who made this all possible, we hope to see more gig workers develop successful ventures and being able to share more inspiring narratives. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- The gig economy has expanded rapidly across the globe, and has become an increasingly influential feature of modern labour markets. The flexibility and autonomy offered by gig work coupled with the ability to earn a steady income are recognised benefits by many workers on digital platforms. These benefits can work synergistically with entrepreneurship, which is often characterised by uncertain time demands and financial volatility. Consensus, however, has not been reached as to whether the gig economy helps or hinders entrepreneurship. This is particularly relevant in developing countries such as South Africa which are marked by relatively high unemployment and lower average incomes. To further explore the intersection of gig work and... (More)
- The gig economy has expanded rapidly across the globe, and has become an increasingly influential feature of modern labour markets. The flexibility and autonomy offered by gig work coupled with the ability to earn a steady income are recognised benefits by many workers on digital platforms. These benefits can work synergistically with entrepreneurship, which is often characterised by uncertain time demands and financial volatility. Consensus, however, has not been reached as to whether the gig economy helps or hinders entrepreneurship. This is particularly relevant in developing countries such as South Africa which are marked by relatively high unemployment and lower average incomes. To further explore the intersection of gig work and entrepreneurship we embarked on semi-structured interviews with a cohort of purposively selected Uber drivers in South Africa. This not only introduced us to a diverse group of engaging and inspiring individuals but also yielded rich insights through the application of the Gioia methodology and its sequential coding approach. Contextualising the findings within existing literature, our analysis provided support for a dynamic and bidirectional transition model for hybrid entrepreneurship within the gig economy as opposed to the more linear process traditionally described in formal employment contexts. Moreover, our findings suggest that income support and entrepreneurial uncertainty reduction are not the only notable benefits transferred from gig work to venture creation. In the context of the gig economy, we found lead generation, skills development and opportunity recognition to be significant and consistent spillovers into the parallel venture. Both these findings suggest the need for further research into these aspects of hybrid entrepreneurship in the context of the gig economy as well as in different study regions. Policy makers intent on driving economic growth can also take heed of the wide range of benefits offered by gig work in the support of entrepreneurship. For the interviewees who made this all possible, we hope to see more gig workers develop successful ventures and being able to share more inspiring narratives. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9200051
- author
- Kabot, Matthew LU and Hirwani, Siddharth LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- ENTN19 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Gig economy, Gig workers, Hybrid entrepreneurship
- language
- English
- id
- 9200051
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-23 10:00:48
- date last changed
- 2025-06-23 10:00:48
@misc{9200051,
abstract = {{The gig economy has expanded rapidly across the globe, and has become an increasingly influential feature of modern labour markets. The flexibility and autonomy offered by gig work coupled with the ability to earn a steady income are recognised benefits by many workers on digital platforms. These benefits can work synergistically with entrepreneurship, which is often characterised by uncertain time demands and financial volatility. Consensus, however, has not been reached as to whether the gig economy helps or hinders entrepreneurship. This is particularly relevant in developing countries such as South Africa which are marked by relatively high unemployment and lower average incomes. To further explore the intersection of gig work and entrepreneurship we embarked on semi-structured interviews with a cohort of purposively selected Uber drivers in South Africa. This not only introduced us to a diverse group of engaging and inspiring individuals but also yielded rich insights through the application of the Gioia methodology and its sequential coding approach. Contextualising the findings within existing literature, our analysis provided support for a dynamic and bidirectional transition model for hybrid entrepreneurship within the gig economy as opposed to the more linear process traditionally described in formal employment contexts. Moreover, our findings suggest that income support and entrepreneurial uncertainty reduction are not the only notable benefits transferred from gig work to venture creation. In the context of the gig economy, we found lead generation, skills development and opportunity recognition to be significant and consistent spillovers into the parallel venture. Both these findings suggest the need for further research into these aspects of hybrid entrepreneurship in the context of the gig economy as well as in different study regions. Policy makers intent on driving economic growth can also take heed of the wide range of benefits offered by gig work in the support of entrepreneurship. For the interviewees who made this all possible, we hope to see more gig workers develop successful ventures and being able to share more inspiring narratives.}},
author = {{Kabot, Matthew and Hirwani, Siddharth}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Help or hinder? Examining the interplay between gig work and venture creation in a developing economy}},
year = {{2025}},
}