De Stefano Guest Editor to Analyze On Demand Economy

Valerio De Stefano (Department of Law), has been chosen as the guest editor of Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal with the aim of editing a collection of papers on the gig-economy (or on-demand economy) and labor law. To provide an interdisciplinary and comprehensive overview on this issue, the contributions gathered cover the legal, economic, business, computer-science and sociological aspects of the phenomenon.

"The so-called gig-economy has been growing exponentially in recent years, in the US as well as in Europe. Forms of work in the 'gig-economy' include 'crowd work' and 'work-on-demand via apps', under which the demand and supply of working activities is matched online or via mobile apps. These kind of activities are often offered by freelance workers without an employment contract", explains De Stefano. These activities are handled through digital platforms and dedicated apps, such as Uber, Deliveroo or TaskRabbit. The collection of papers, among other things, will deal with the gig-economy's legal implications and will reflect on how to adapt the labor market to this emerging trend and on how to guarantee these workers access to labor and social protections. "The aim is to think about how to combine the evolution of business to the protection of these persons whose activity is often described with terms such as tasks, gigs or favors. Any sort of possible term, thus, but work. This could nourish the idea that these working activities do not, by definition, deserve to be considered from a labor regulation standpoint", stresses the academic.

Besides being teaching fellow at Bocconi University, De Stefano is an officer of the International Labour Office (ILO), for which he produces researches and reports on the issue of non-standard forms of employement.