Editors' note: This column is based on CEPR Discussion Paper 21541 “The labor market effects of regulating platform work: Evidence from Chile”.
The frequent classification of platform workers as independent contractors has driven a radical transformation in labour market relationships, enabling platforms to sidestep traditional employment regulations (Boeri et al. 2020).
This common practice has sparked intense debates about the precarious conditions of many platform workers, prompting regulatory responses across continents.1 These concerns are further amplified in Latin America, where independent contracting intersects with high rates of informality (Ulyssea 2018, ILO 2025), further reducing social protection. At the same time, with 46 million workers, the gig economy has become a major source of employment flexibility in the region, leading to marginal workers being drawn in. Hence, for Latin American governments, regulating the platform sector means trading off employment opportunities, informality, and social protection all at the same time.
Chile, which was the first country to take legislative action by putting in force the Platform Work Law (Ley N 21,431, hereafter PWL) in September 2022, responded to this challenge thorough introducing the new legal figure of “independent platform worker” in the Chilean Labour Code.2 That is, platforms have to monitor, even when hiring through subcontracting firms, that their workers are registered with the tax authorities through...
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