Cornell Video

Online labor platforms have established unique dynamics between employers and workers. No matter the product or service, online workers are hired and compensated on a per-task basis, and they work remotely with limited supervision. To accommodate the lack of oversight, employers often offer performance-based financial incentives. Kaynar and her collaborators have established a data-driven framework for learning about effectiveness of these incentives, including worker effort and commitment as a factor. This framework can gather data on workers’ responses to different financial incentives and provide a building block for investigating and prioritizing worker welfare, an issue of increasing prominence in online platforms.