In search of quasi-subordinate workers in China: A typology of gig riders by economic dependency and subordination.
The article focuses on identifying and classifying quasi-subordinate gig workers in China’s platform economy, specifically food-delivery riders, by examining their economic dependency and personal subordination. Using a large-scale survey of 7,680 gig riders across five Chinese cities and latent cla...
| Published in: | International Labour Review Vol. 164; no. 4; pp. 1 - 22 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
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Open Library of Humanities
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=193035753&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 193035753 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00207780 ILB jtl: International Labour Review issn: 00207780 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2025 vid: 164 iid: 4 pid: 15576 pub: Open Library of Humanities artinfo: ui: 193035753 10.16995/ilr.23784 ppf: 1 ppct: 21 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 2.4MB tig: atl: In search of quasi-subordinate workers in China: A typology of gig riders by economic dependency and subordination. aug: au: Tu, Wei Wang, Xueyu affil: Country Office for China and Mongolia, International Labour Organization Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, University of Toronto su: China Job satisfaction Job classification Obedience Sharing economy Independent contractors sug: subj: Job satisfaction China Job classification Obedience Sharing economy Independent contractors keyword: delivery platforms economic dependency employment status gig workers platform economy subordination delivery platforms economic dependency employment status gig workers platform economy subordination ab: The article focuses on identifying and classifying quasi-subordinate gig workers in China’s platform economy, specifically food-delivery riders, by examining their economic dependency and personal subordination. Using a large-scale survey of 7,680 gig riders across five Chinese cities and latent class analysis, the study finds that only about 19% fit the traditional binary employment framework as “employee-like,” while the remaining 81% constitute a heterogeneous “quasi-subordinate” category with varying degrees of economic dependency and subordination. High economic dependency correlates with longer working hours, greater work intensity, and increased perceived pressure, whereas high personal subordination is linked to lower job satisfaction; notably, social insurance coverage is inadequate among more subordinated subgroups. The study proposes context-specific, quantifiable indicators for identifying quasi-subordinate workers, contributing empirical evidence to support China’s emerging trichotomous employment status framework and offering insights relevant to global discussions on gig worker classification and protection. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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