Documents service sector 744 results

"This article examines institutional experimentation by linking the dynamics of capital accumulation, the adoption of new digital technologies within the labour process, and institutional settings. Our inductive qualitative case study within the service (logistics) sector in Europe sheds light on the processes through which local stakeholders engage in workplace change through institutional experimentation. It also illustrates how and under which conditions unions can act as political agents of transformation to influence work and employment."

"In light of the changes to organisational processes that businesses have had to make due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many firms have realised that there are more tasks that can be carried out from home than previously expected. In the business-related services sector, more than 50 per cent of companies – and in the manufacturing sector, more than 40 per cent – are reporting such digital learning effects. “The widespread recognition among firms that many more tasks can be performed remotely than previously assumed reinforces the impulse the coronavirus crisis is giving to increasing mobile work. Because of these new experiences and insights, many companies are planning to use remote work more regularly after the crisis than they did before,” says Dr. Daniel Erdsiek, a researcher in ZEW's “Digital Economy” Department. About one in three companies had to invest in new technologies in the short term in order to make remote work arrangements available during the crisis. These are the results of a recent representative survey conducted by ZEW Mannheim in June 2020 among approximately 1,800 companies in the information economy and manufacturing industry."

"Firms can use legal and spatial scaling to increase their control and capacity to exploit assets. Here we examine how platform firms, like AirBnB, Uber, and Bird, scale their operations through global wealth chains. Their use of law is to maximize wealth creation and protection, while their services use local spaces to extract value from established property, labor, and public thoroughfares. We examine how such ‘networked accumulation' platform firms use legal and spatial scaling through legal affordances. This includes opportunities for absences, ambiguities and arbitrage that are realized via multi and inter-scalar strategies and produce variegation. Our analysis draws on legal documents, as well as interviews, from Barcelona and San Francisco. The article contributes with a model of how platform firms use legal and spatial scaling, as well as how activists can challenge their operations."

"Why are unprofitable gig work platforms so highly valued? Recent scholarship argues that gig platforms configure their data and computational infrastructure as financial assets, and that this speculative valuation offsets monetary losses on ride-hailing and food-delivery services. At the root of this valuation, however, is a narrative of efficiency and optimization that has little bearing on platforms' on-the-ground operations. In practice, gig work platforms are remarkably inefficient. I build on Veblen's work on the business enterprise to argue that platforms' financial exceptionalism owes to their unique capacity to strategically insert inefficiencies within and beyond the market encounters they broker, a pattern that I call ‘platform sabotage.' The paper offers five vignettes of platform sabotage at work, illustrating how platforms target their strategic inefficiencies across various constituencies of market actors. The paper concludes with discussion of sabotage as a modality of platformization."

"The growing importance of services has led to significant structural change in advanced economies, with the service sector now accounting for the largest share of employment in developed countries. In his seminal model of the so-called cost disease of services, William Baumol noted that the prices of services, especially in health, education, arts and culture, tend to rise faster than the prices of material goods. Central to his model is the disparity in labour productivity growth rates between stagnant and progressive sectors. Baumol's model sheds light on the reasons behind the rising cost of services and provides a deeper understanding of its economic consequences. This article argues that Baumol's model of the cost disease of services retains its explanatory power and relevance today. It refutes criticisms that productivity growth in services is mismeasured and underestimated and that the increasing importance of services as inputs in manufacturing renders Baumol's model irrelevant. Instead, the article argues that Baumol's model can highlight the overlooked consequences of rising income inequality, particularly the severe impact of the cost disease, which disproportionately affects the poorer segments of the population."

"Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are increasingly being used in various industries in connection with algorithmic management, chatbots, geopositioning, and other processes. AI refers to machine-based systems that can make predictions, recommendations, or decisions with only limited human input/oversight. To understand the challenges that are emerging in relation to the increased use of AI in human resource management, the report examines the current situation in collective bargaining regarding the use of AI-related tools by employers vis-àvis workers, especially in the service sector. The findings are based on desk research, an original survey of 148 trade union representatives affiliated to UNI Europa in 32 countries, and an analysis of 31 collective agreements that already contain provisions relating to the use of AI. Results reflect current experience, general opinions on bargaining on AI-related challenges, and expected union actions to develop bargaining in this area, as well as some good practices on AI-related clauses in collective agreements. The analysis has produced the following key conclusions: – Bargaining on AI is emerging and is not yet as widespread as bargaining on other elements of working conditions. – Out of 90 survey responses, only 20% of trade unions reported having a collective agreement that addresses AI-related issues at the organisation or sector level. This implies that the majority of trade unions (69%) do not have any collective bargaining agreements related to AI, and 11% are unaware of any such agreements.
– Existing collective agreements mostly make general reference to the use of technology. However, several agreements were identified (e.g. in Italy, Germany, Norway and Spain) that can serve as examples of more detailed rules and arrangements on the right to disconnect, digital rights of the workers at the workplace, information-sharing and business control. – With the increasing use of technology at the workplace, it can be expected that collective bargaining on AI will further increase in relevance. 42% of the UNI Europa affiliates that participated in the survey are already engaged in discussions and negotiations on various topics related to AI, even if this is not collective bargaining in the strict sense. Unions prioritise issues of data protection, worker privacy, the impact of AI on working hours, monitoring of worker activities, and automated scheduling of work shifts. – In the process of developing collective bargaining on AI-related issues, unions prioritise bargaining on workers' right to challenge decisions made through automated decision-making, and their right to receive advice from an external data expert. Additionally, there is an intense desire among unions to have a right to information and consultation on the use and evaluation of AI tools.
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"The collaborative economy matches people online who want to share assets and services. This Policy Contribution: i) discusses how the collaborative economy can be defined; ii) provides an overview of evidence about its potential benefits for European economies and the impact of specific platforms in the sectors of their operation; iii) illustrates the criteria that enable professional and non-professional services offered through collaborative platforms to be distinguished; iv) recommends priorities for the platforms so that they can create a safe and transparent environment for the transactions of their users; v) discusses further regulatory concerns and how they should be approached.

The collaborative economy is characterised by a great variety of business models. It spans multiple sectors each of which has its own market characteristics. A single definition is therefore beyond reach. However, a common element in the majority of business models is the use of under-utilised assets for the extraction of economic benefits.

There is evidence that Europe could enjoy major economic gains from the collaborative economy, especially if barriers are removed and the regulatory framework is adjusted to better accommodate platforms. However, in particular sectors such as ride-sharing and short-term accommodation, the benefits from the operation of platforms come at a cost because platforms can have a detrimental effect on ‘traditional' incumbent operators. The technology is thus disruptive to many traditional businesses.

While under EU legislation it is not clear when services supplied through collaborative platforms can be classified as professional, a careful examination of business models on a case-by-case basis can help to define some relevant criteria. The frequency with which a service is provided, the provider's motive and the associated remuneration are three important aspects that enable professional and non-professional services to be distinguished.

As intermediaries, collaborative platforms have access to a large volume of information about the market and about their users, which is not available to other market participants or the regulator. Consumer protection requires a safe and transparent environment for transactions. Platforms based on their market position could be very helpful with this respect.

Legal certainty and regulatory clarity are also required to incentivise further investment in efficient information technologies and platforms. The current uncertainty over the status of the collaborative economy platforms, legal disputes in national and European courts and decisions to restrict the operation of platforms at local/city levels create an environment in which it is difficult to attract new investment in Europe.

Regulatory authorities should move quickly to define the framework of the operation of such platforms to restore investors' confidence. Local regulation is very important for defining the operational framework of collaborative platforms that can bring the greatest benefits to local economies. But an EU-wide approach is also needed to define the general framework of the operation of these platforms and to address in a decisive and clear way the associated regulatory concerns."

"This report provides new evidence on the role of services in global value chains (GVCs). With the release of the Trade in Value Added database, it was highlighted that services account for a larger share of world trade than suggested by traditional statistics. But this evidence does not tell the whole story about services in GVCs. In addition to services bought as inputs, there are also services activities within manufacturing firms. Moreover, manufacturing companies increasingly produce and export services either as complements or substitutes to the goods they sell. This shift to services is related to strategies aiming at adding more value and creating a long-term relationship with customers. The report highlights that services inputs, whether domestic or foreign, account for about 37% of the value of manufacturing exports in the sample of countries covered. By adding service activities within manufacturing firms, this share increases to 53% and the overall contribution of services to exports is close to two-thirds. Across countries, between 25% and 60% of employment in manufacturing firms is found in service support functions such as R&D, engineering, transport, logistics, distribution, marketing, sales, after-sale services, IT, management and back-office support. SMEs are also part of this “servicification” and contribute to exports of services bundled with goods."