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Begin New Search Topic Work Culture Political Geography Latin America

1. Coworking Spaces in La Paz, Bolivia: Urban Effects and Potential Creation of New Opportunities for Local Economic Development

Author:
Lucas DuPriest
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper investigates the location patterns of coworking spaces, the effects of coworking spaces on the local and urban context, and coworking spaces potential opportunities for the creation of local economic development, issues that have been neglected in a Bolivian context by the existing literature. The focus of this paper is on La Paz, Bolivia’s political capital and the city in Bolivia which host the largest number of coworking spaces. The paper addresses three main questions: (1) Where are the main locations of coworking spaces in La Paz? (2) to what extent do coworking spaces generate transformative effects on the local respectively the urban scale? (e.g. physical transformations, changes in practices, community building) (3) how do coworking spaces create potential opportunities for local economic development? Desk research demonstrated that location patterns of coworking spaces are concentrated to two main commercial areas of the city, as well as to the main infrastructural and transportation axes. Field research highlighted local and urban effects, such as local community initiatives and micro-urban transformations in both spaces and practices. Lastly, field research assessed coworking spaces role in the socio-economic ecosystem. Three main typologies have been identified: the first type of coworking spaces act as “social entrepreneurship and start-up incubators” with a supportive role and closer ties to social and urban issues, the second type of coworking spaces act as “coffee and cowork incubators” providing cafés with shared workspaces, the third type of coworking spaces act as “real estate business incubators” and are mainly a commercial product responding the demand for flexible office spaces. This paper, therefore, helps to fill the gap in the literature about the location patterns of these new working spaces and their effects at different scales both in terms of spaces and practices, as well as local economic development.
Topic:
Economics, Work Culture, Urban, Local, Innovation, Economic Development, and Social Capital
Political Geography:
Latin America and Bolivia

2. Platform Economy and Employment: What it is like to work for an app in Argentina?

Author:
Javier Madariaga, Cesar Buenadicha, Erika Molina, and Christoph Ernst
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (CIPPEC)
Abstract:
Digital platforms emerged globally about ten years ago and entailed a major disruption in the world of work. However, they are a relatively recent development in Argentina. Early in 2016 there were five such platforms in operation, all of them domestic capital companies. After that, the flexibilization of the system of payments abroad and other factors accelerated the entry of new platforms and affiliates of foreign companies, which, in turn, fostered the flow of new investments in local platforms that were already installed. In fact, during the following two years, at least eight new platforms that offer the possibility of income generation were incorporated. However, new forms of work through digital platforms is not included in the government´s official statistics and thus remains invisible in other categories: unemployed working persons, freelancers, some non-standard wage-earning employment, and informal workers. This study is the first to classify, describe, and analyze digital labour platforms in Argentina. It includes a specific survey of more than 600 cases: the 2018 Survey of Platform Workers (ETP 18, as per its Spanish acronym). The survey’s results show that, although this phenomenon is at its earliest stages, in 2018 the group of users-providers of services through digital platforms represented 1% of all those employed in Argentina, that is to say, more than 160,000 registered workers. That figure encompasses very different realities, from people transporting passengers in their cars to graphic designers working from home, or people renting out a room in their homes. One conclusion drawn from this research is that the platform economy offers new income generation opportunities and plays a social safety role in the face of unemployment and underemployment, but it also creates regulatory issues and challenges the scope of labour, tax and worker protection rules that were designed for the traditional economy. The digital platform economy democratises the generation of income, offers more flexible opportunities and income generation methods, and facilitates access to work. Nevertheless, it also brings new challenges to workers: more job insecurity and volatility, and less accumulation of skills. The document Platform Economy: ¿What is it like to work for an app in Argentina? analyzes in detail the different aspects of the platform economy and presents some potential public policy guidelines.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Labor Issues, Employment, Digital Economy, Work Culture, and Labor Policies
Political Geography:
Argentina and Latin America