Exploring the effects of digital labour platforms on the informal economy and informal workers: a scoping review

Bridging research from the Global South and Global North on the informalisation effects of Digital Labour Platforms (DLPs), this scoping review examines the impact of location-based DLPs on the informal economy and informal workers. The review draws on studies published in English and retrieved from Web of Science and Scopus. The main effects identified include: (1) the partial and selective formalisation of informal work; (2) formalisation through a transition to labour – capital relations and the subsumption of informality; (3) the expansion of informal markets and the emergence of new informalities; and (4) both improvements in and erosion of workers’ labour conditions. The article argues for stronger theoretical contributions from existing and future research to debates on the informal economy and work, and highlights the importance of integrating perspectives from both the Global South and the Global North to better understand DLP-driven work transformations.