Christian Haldrup's PhD defense at the Department of Sociology

Candidate 

Christian Haldrup, Department of Sociology, KU

Candidate
Christian Haldrup

Title

Managing Algorithmic Flexibility
- The quality of work and evolving labour market inequalities in the Danish platform economy

Committe:

  • Associate Professor Inge Kryger Pedersen (chair), Department of Sociology, KU
  • Professor Bertil Rolandsson, University of Gothenburg
  • Professor Ivana Pais, Universitá, Milan

Supervisor: Associate Professor Anna Ilsøe, University of Copenhagen, KU

Host

Bente Halkier, Professor, Department of Sociology

Time and place

10 June 2024, kl. 13:00 - 16:00
Auditorium 1.1.18. (First floor, building 1, CSS)
University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Social Sciences, Øster Farimagsgade 5A, 1353 København K.

The PhD dissertation will be available through Academic Books as an e-publication.

After the defense, all are welcome at a reception in meeting room 16.1.62 from approx. 15:00. First floor at the Department of Sociology.

Engelsk resume (shortened)

The main objective of this dissertation is to study working conditions – the quality of work – over time at digital labour platforms such as Wolt or Hilfr with the Danish labour market as an empirical case.

These platforms have recently gained much attention for providing easy access to tasks and earnings through a digitally mediated infrastructure. However, they have also faced criticism for contributing to labour market inequalities due to their digitalised and unregulated working conditions, which have led to uncertainties in the quality of work in the form of fluctuating working hours and earnings.

Limited access to platform data further complicates studying these contexts, as many platforms are reluctant to share their data with researchers. This dissertation bridges this gap by utilising a working time data series from a total population of food delivery couriers provided by the prominent food delivery platform Wolt. By applying a longitudinal perspective on these data, the dissertation offers novel empirical insights relevant to ongoing discussions on regulating the platform economy and the implications of digitalisation on organisational structures and contemporary working lives.

The dissertation's main contribution is revealing three previously unidentified segments of platform workers with stable and distinct working time patterns, indicating that labour market inequalities are evolving within the platform.

All are welcome to participate.