The Characteristics of The Gig Economy

In the industrial era, traditional firms emerged as an efficient resource allocation. In the past two decades, informatization and technological development have spawned a series of emerging economic models, among which the gig economy attracts much attention globally. With the popularity of the Internet, mobile applications, and all other social, economic, political, and cultural changes, traditional mass production is no longer able to adapt to such incredibly fast development, let alone to meet the diversified needs for commodities and service. As a result, the gig economy, as a new mechanism to achieve optimal resource allocation, was born, characterized by the decomposition of jobs, skillization and capitalization of workers, integration of internal and external human capital, and decentralization of corporate management. But there are still problems, as keeping market density while avoiding “blockage” , and protecting users’ privacy, which need to be seriously considered in future research and policy formulation.