GIG Economy: A Bibliometric Analysis
Ali İhsan Balcı, Ersin EraslanThis study used bibliometric analysis to scrutinize the extant literature on the gig economy and examine how it reflects the GIG economy’s impact on society and workers. The concept of the gig economy is widely debated in diverse countries, especially given the recent pandemic. A significant surge has been noted in overseas publications on this topic in the last few years. However, the number of publications on the gig economy remains remarkably limited in Turkey. The advantages and disadvantages of the gig economy will significantly impact the dynamics of the Turkish labor market in the near future, both in terms of work-related life and social effects. The study’s findings suggest that future discussions in the Turkish labor market will focus predominantly on the advantages and disadvantages of the gig economy. The advantages include flexible working hours and independent working relationships. The drawbacks comprise low wages and deviations from the standard social security norms. Additional research is imperative considering the relative novelty and incomplete establishment of Turkish literature on this subject.
GİG Ekonomisi: Bibliyometrik Bir Analiz
Ali İhsan Balcı, Ersin EraslanÇalışmanın amacı GİG Ekonomisinin literatürdeki yerini belirlemek üzerinedir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda, GİG Ekonomisinin toplum ve çalışanlar nezdinde oluşturduğu etkilerin literatüre yansımasının nasıl olduğu, GİG ekonomisinin işgücü piyasasına yönelik olarak ortaya çıkan avantajları ve dezavantajları göz önünde bulundurularak “bibliyometrik analiz” yöntemi kullanılarak incelemesi yapılmıştır. GİG Ekonomisi özellikle pandemi süreci ile birlikte ülkelerin tartıştığı bir kavram olarak görülmektedir. Son yıllarda özellikle yabancı literatürdeki yayın sayısının hızla arttığı tespit edilmiştir. Ancak GİG Ekonomisine ilişkin Türkiye’de yapılan yayın sayısının oldukça sınırlı olduğu görülmüştür. Türkiye’nin değişen ve gelişen dünya düzeninde popüler olan bu kavram üzerinde daha fazla araştırmanın yapılması gerekmektedir. Gelecek yıllarda GİG Ekonomisinin, ülke içinde meydana getireceği bir takım avantajlar ve dezavantajlar hem çalışma hayatında hem de toplumsal olarak Türkiye işgücü piyasası dinamiklerini etkileyecektir. GİG Ekonomisinin avantajları olarak görülen esnek çalışma saatleri, bağımsız çalışma ilişkileri ve dezavantajları olarak görülen düşük ücretler, sosyal güvencenin standarttan farklılaşması gibi durumlar kavramın gelecekte özellikle Türkiye işgücü piyasasında esnek çalışma ilişkilerinden çok daha fazla tartışılması çalışmanın sonuçlarında kendisini göstermektedir. Türkçe literatürün tam anlamıyla yerleşmemiş, yeni olması kavrama ilişkin çok daha fazla araştırmanın yapılmasını gerektirmektedir. Kavrama ilişkin ne kadar fazla çalışma yapılır, sorunları ve avantajları o kadar fazla tartışılırsa, dezavantajlarını engellemeye yönelik uygun politika seçimleri daha verimli bir şekilde geliştirilebilecektir.
The present study was prompted by the emergent popularity of remote working methods and flexible work arrangements during the pandemic, which resulted in the recognition of the concept of the gig economy in the relevant literature. Therefore, the first section of the study examines the definitions of the gig economy and its impact on workers and societies. Subsequently, the worldwide prevalence of the gig economy is discussed taking into account its benefits and drawbacks. Finally, the paper presents the findings and results of the study, which was conducted via bibliometric analysis.
The bibliometric analysis section details the results of the study. The study data used were obtained from the Web of Science database. The data comprised articles from journals indexed in the Web of Science between 2010 and 2021. More than 2,500 articles related to the concept of the gig economy concept were examined during the study, which aimed to answer the following questions:
1.How is research on the gig economy distributed based on publication categories?
2.What interest trends do publications on the gig economy display over the years? 3
.How are research citations on the gig economy distributed across countries?
4.How are institutions researching the gig economy distributed?
5.How do keywords cluster in research conducted on the gig economy?
The study offers insights into the distribution, trends, and key contributors of research on the gig economy and elucidates the overall domain.
Certain limitations of this study must be acknowledged. First, the study focused only on the Web of Science database for data collection. Other databases or sources could contain relevant articles that were not included in the present analysis. Second, the search was conducted based on the specific search term “gig economy.” Studies that used different terminology or focused on related concepts could thus have been excluded. Third, a limited time frame between 2014 and 2022 was selected for the study. This range could have omitted earlier or more recent publications that could offer additional insights.
These drawbacks should be considered when the results of the present study are interpreted and its findings are generalized. Prospective studies can expand the scope by including multiple databases, using broader search terms, and considering wider time frames to more comprehensively apprehend and illuminate the gig economy.
The present study’s findings reveal that the gig economy concept has rapidly attained popularity in recent years, which has resulted in a significant increase in the number of relevant articles in the literature. Developed economies such as the United States, United Kingdom, and China evince the most cited articles and exhibit the highest publication output on this subject. The concept is primarily discussed in the domains of ındustrial relations and management. Additionally, in the context of Turkey, six publications and five citations were found in relation to the gig economy, with corresponding link strength of 33 units. Therefore, limited research on the gig economy has thus far been conducted in Turkey, indicating the need for further studies in this field.
Increasing digitization and the widespread use of social networks contribute to the development of a new economic model known as the gig economy. This concept is particularly prominent in the fields of industrial relations and management and is examined within an interdisciplinary framework that includes sociology, law, and economics. However, the growing number of studies on this topic has also caused conceptual confusion. Therefore, the present study performed a bibliometric review to compile and analyze scholarly investigations on the gig economy and present their important findings. The study intended specifically to bridge the conceptual gap in the Turkish literature on the gig economy and offer directions for future research endeavors.
The gig economy is widely studied in the Anglo–Saxon tradition, particularly in countries such as the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada. However, countries like India and China also demonstrate significant positions in this domain. Universities such as Oxford, Sydney, Cambridge, and Melbourne evince great interest in researching the gig economy. The bibliometric analyses revealed another prominent study area labeled “conceptual co-occurrence.” Therefore, the analysis of conceptual co-occurrence is an important topic for prospective studies. The present study’s analysis of conceptual co-occurrence observed that the term gig economy is often referenced in tandem with the idea of platforms and the sharing economy.
