Analyzing the Influence of Digital Platforms on Gig Workers in the e-Hailing Industry: An Institutional Logic Perspective

Gig workers on digital platforms take on new working arrangements that involve no direct, conventional employment relationship with the platform companies. Although research on gig work has grown, we still understand little about the mechanisms through which platform design shapes the welfare of the workers who depend on it. Adopting an institutional logic perspective, this paper explores the inscribed market logic within digital platforms and its qualitative consequences for gig workers. It investigates the operational vulnerabilities e-hailing drivers experience, examines their underlying mechanisms, and conceptualizes how stakeholder interventions can mitigate institutional constraints. Using an interpretive qualitative case design, this study draws on semi-structured interviews with 14 e-hailing drivers in Penang, Malaysia, complemented by a key-informant interview with a driver-association representative, field observations, and document analysis. The findings indicate that the market logic inscribed within digital platforms operates by prioritizing operational efficiency over gig workers’ welfare. This mechanism is associated with an imbalanced market environment marked by acute financial instability and inadequate social protection. Rather than offering broad statistical generalizations, the study advances a refined framework that conceptualizes how platform-driven efficiency gains generate new institutional constraints. The paper recommends employment-status classification and algorithmic floor-rate regulation for policymakers, alongside transparent fare models and structural risk-sharing for platform companies.