In this paper, I explore how traditional working arrangements are affected by the introduction of a gig platform. I do so by forming a novel dataset that combines comprehensive employer-employee data from the Veneto region of Italy with delivery-level information from Italy's largest on-demand delivery service platform. By exploiting the platform's staggered rollout across the region, I find the platform’s availability increases registered unemployment followed by a delayed rise in employment. Individuals that take up gig work are more likely to have fixed-term contracts with a shorter duration and spend more time registered as unemployed after the platform’s introduction.

Does the labeling of neighborhoods affect their outcomes? Place-based policies targeting disadvantaged areas aim to improve their conditions, but the labels they impose carry consequences of their own. In this paper, we examine Denmark’s Ghetto Plan which designated public housing areas with a large share of immigrant population, high crime, and high unemployment as “ghettos”, with minimal additional implications. We exploit Danish administrative data, and adopt a Difference-in-Differences approach at the neighborhood and individual level. We find that the policy led to worsening average characteristics at the neighborhood level, largely due to compositional changes driven by Danish new entrants with lower income and education levels. Following individuals affected by the policy, we find significant negative effects on their income with no discernible effects on criminal behavior. We estimate that Danes are willing to accept a 3% drop in income to move out of labeled neighborhoods. In all, the Danish ghetto policy was largely ineffective, and in some aspects, even detrimental.

This study investigates supply-side contributors to earnings disparities between foreign-born and native-born workers in Italy’s on-demand delivery sector. Using detailed administrative data, we document that foreign-born riders earn significantly less than natives, even after accounting for individual and job-related characteristics. We identify three supply-side factors: familiarity with the host country (proxied by experience), network formation (via location choice), and earnings targets.