Denis Strebkov

The paper is devoted to electronic self-employment as a new phenomenon of the labor market in the information society. The authors analyze the growing sector of self-employed professionals (freelancers) working remotely via Internet. Extensive quantitative data from online standardized surveys reveal the main demographic, social and professional characteristics of Russian-speaking e-lancers, as well as motivational, organizational and financial issues.

A specific form of nonstandard employment is presented by electronic freelancers, e.g. self-employed professionals working remotely via the Internet. Andrey Shevchuk and Denis Strebkov launched Russian Freelance Survey (RFS) that brought more than 10,000 usable responses in each of two waves in 2008 and 2010, making RFS one of the largest freelance surveys in the world. Using these unique data sets, the authors describe the main socio-economic characteristics of freelancers and address the issues of informality, opportunism and trust in the Russian-speaking e-lance market.

International interest in freelance contracting as a distinct socio-economic phenomenon has been growing in recent years in the labour market and entrepreneurship literatures. Drawing on unique dataset comprising three waves of survey data gathered over a five year timeframe, we shed light on the development of the Russian-language online labour market, which comprises freelancers from Russia and other transition post-socialist economies. Our findings reveal trends in the changing demographic profile of freelancers as well as important insights about their careers, work values and challenges. We argue that these freelancers represent a new generation of well-educated and motivated workers who are engaged in ICT and creative industriesand are crucial for modernising transition economies. However, the high levels of informality and client opportunism evident within the freelance economy constitutes an important socio-economic problem. By examining the experiences of freelancers in the context of transition post-socialist economies over a five year period, we present new insights about the general traits and specific patterns of freelance contracting in the new economy.

Based on a sample of 5,784 Russian-speaking respondents, this study provides the first quantitative evidence on freelance contracting via the Internet. We explore the extent to which these virtual business relations are formal or informal, and the role of social capital and networking. Our data suggest freelancers act under constant threat of malfeasance from clients. We address a number of questions associated with freelancers’ business risks and how freelancers might mitigate them.
The logistic regression models reveal that the virtualization of relationships with clients is associated with greater moral hazard risks and fewer opportunities for dispute resolution. Formal written contracts do not prevent opportunistic behaviors by clients, though such contracts help resolve conflicts. Dealing with available social contacts and referrals decreases both the probability of extreme opportunism, causing financial losses, and the probability that disputes remain unresolved. Nevertheless, established social relations could be exploited by clients who can delay payments or insist on altering deadlines, work scope and specifications.
Thus, our findings contribute to existing literatures on social capital in freelance contracting and on the structure of occupational labor markets.

In this paper, we examine the effect of horizontal educational mismatch on socio-economic outcomes among self-employed workers. Using unique data from 1602 Russian-language internet freelancers, who are typically both contract professionals and teleworkers, we investigate the relatedness of education and work in this new occupational and social context. We provide rare evidence of the effects of horizontal educational mismatch on earnings, job satisfaction, and perceived job mobility of self-employed workers. We find that educational mismatch has differential influence on women's and men's experiences. Although both men and women have an earnings penalty for being mismatched, only mismatched women suffer from reduction in job satisfaction. Women who work outside their field of study while caring for their small children are in the most vulnerable position. They experience negative socio-economic outcomes in all dimensions: reduction in earnings, job satisfaction, and express intentions to change their current employment situation. We argue that these findings may be evidence of gendered career strategies and greater family demands for women in the new economy.