Centre pour l'entrepreneuriat, les PME, les régions et les villes
Platform cooperatives and employment
An alternative for platform work
Platform cooperatives refer to cooperatives that are directly owned and managed by
their members and that use websites and/or mobile apps to sell goods and/or services.
They have emerged in large part as alternatives to digital labour platforms to promote
better working conditions with evidence of significant growth in recent years.
This paper provides an overview of employment in platform cooperatives and offers
insights on their distinctive features. In particular, it provides i) insights on
working conditions associated with such platforms; ii) an overview on the challenges
they face in creating jobs as well as scaling up, developing and expanding their activity;
and iii) policy recommendations and examples of policy actions that could help policy
makers best support them to generate work opportunities and enhance job quality.
This paper was produced as part of the OECD Global Action on Promoting Social and
Solidarity Economy Ecosystems, funded by the European Union’s Foreign Partnership
Instrument.
Published on September 30, 2023
In series:OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Papersview more titles