Inferring Supplier Quality in the Gig Economy: The Effectiveness of Signals in Freelance Job Markets

Inferring quality of labor suppliers is a challenge in the gig economy. Many online freelance job markets address this challenge by incorporating signals. We test effectiveness of two kinds of information signals as indicators of supplier quality: skill signal (which reflects suppliers’ skill and potential), and achievement signal (which reflects suppliers’ past achievement). We theorize that two job characteristics in cross-national labor...