Impact of legislation on gig workers: evidence from Chile

Based on representative samples of gig workers from Chile (drivers and riders working through applications like Uber and Rappi), this paper explores the subjective and objective impact of two Chilean laws regarding the gig economy. The demographic and employment characteristics of these workers, including job satisfaction and motivation, are also analyzed. Overall, laws have a muted to negative effect on workers.

For the first law (which formalizes the status of gig workers as workers), those who report a negative impact associate it with less flexibility regarding working hours, in addition to the now compulsory income taxes. For the second law (which increases the requirements to work as driver), more than half report that they will stop working. Partial compliance with the law also stands out, which is particularly clear in the low and stable rate of income reporting to the State by workers.