MAPPING POLICY-ORIENTED GIG-ECONOMY RESEARCH: BIBLIOMETRIC EVIDENCE

Abstract

The gig economy has triggered policy concerns because gig jobs do not fit into conventional employment categories. This, along with challenges in identifying policy discussions in gig-economy research, are the study’s motivation. This bibliometric study addresses the question on how policy-oriented gig-economy research has evolved. We analyse 1,728 Scopus-indexed journal articles using performance analysis. The publication trajectory shows that Social Sciences is the leading subject area in terms of research output productivity, reinforcing the labour-governance orientation of policy engagement in gig-economy research. We also find evidence of asymmetric patterns in knowledge production and influence, concentrated in universities from a handful of developed countries. This paper contributes by taking into consideration policy dimensions debated in gig-economy research. This departs from typical bibliometric studies on gig economy, which tend to be general overviews with no specific focus.