The Leased Among Us: Precarious Work, Local Regulation, and the Taxi Industry

Item Type Journal Article Author Jill Esbenshade Author Elizabeta Shifrin URL https://doi.org/10.1177/0160449X18768047 Volume 44 Issue 3 Pages 193-213 Publication Labor Studies Journal ISSN 0160-449X Date September 1, 2019 Extra Publisher: SAGE Publications Inc Journal Abbr Labor Studies Journal DOI 10.1177/0160449X18768047 Accessed 2021-06-17 22:20:07 Library Catalog SAGE Journals Language en Abstract Through a case study of the taxi industry in San Diego, where 89 percent of drivers leased their vehicles as independent contractors (IC), we show how local regulation has enforced precarity. We find that the interaction of policies from various local governmental agencies has actually required lease drivers to operate as ICs and has simultaneously undermined the very control and economic independence that is fundamental to the IC designation. While the literature on precarious employment and IC misclassification tends to emphasize the role of macroeconomic structures, employer action, and federal government policy, this article highlights the role of local regulatory agencies. Short Title The Leased Among Us