Digital Platform Employment and Household Leverage Decisions: Large-scale Survey Evidence

This paper examines how digital platform work affects household leverage ratios. Using a Tobit model on survey data from 68,791 respondents from 2021 to 2023, we find that participation in platform work significantly reduces household leverage ratios, with stronger effects as platform-derived income increases. The results are robust to instrumental variable tests and propensity score matching. Mechanism analysis identifies increased expected income uncertainty as the primary channel through which platform work influences household leverage decisions. This study provides the first empirical evidence linking platform work to household leverage decisions and offers insights for digital platform employment policies.