Standard Grant: Digital Platforms and the Mediation of Technological Change

该奖项支持一个研究新兴平台经济学的研究项目；该项目将通过揭示当地环境调节平台资本主义的方式及其影响，有助于从理论上理解新兴平台经济。更广泛地说，它将为美国国家科学基金会以研究为重点的大构想“在人类技术前沿工作：塑造未来”做出贡献。数字平台为在“零工经济”中工作的独立承包商以及为亚马逊等公司处理配送的仓储和运输组织的工人提供了基本的基础设施。通过产生关于平台资本主义的地方中介的发现，本研究将为希望明智地驾驭这些市场转变的地方政府和公司提供建议。该项目的结果将通过单独的报告分发给地方政府、物流和航运组织、独立承包商和工会；在受欢迎的出版物中提供无障碍出版物；关于平台经济的本科课程；以及对在这个领域工作的博士生的培训和支持。本项目将通过一项实证调查来分析当地环境如何调解平台资本主义，该调查侧重于将数字平台转化为美国的城市地区。监控是这些翻译的关键；所有以平台为中介的商业互动都是为了生成数据而设计的，这些数据可以用来建立消费者档案，绘制和预测趋势，以及操纵个人和群体行为。被研究的平台是优步、Airbnb和亚马逊运营的平台。三个主要的研究问题将指导这一调查：(1)地方组织形式和功能如何改变以应对平台资本主义？(2)现有的技术基础设施有哪些阻力和优势？(3)地方文化实践如何中介数字平台的部署和使用？为了解决这些问题，研究者将使用多种定性方法，包括对行业、媒体和政府文件的内容分析；与关键线人进行30次半结构化访谈；以及选定城市区域的平台密度和流量的空间映射。对大规模数字平台的社会空间影响的探索将借鉴、综合并促进监测研究、科学技术研究和人文地理文献。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award supports a research project that studies emerging platform economics; three platforms are to be studied, those operated by Uber, Airbnb, and Amazon The project will contribute to theoretical understandings of emerging platform economies by bringing to light the ways that local environments mediate platform capitalism and to what effect. More broadly, it will contribute to NSF's research-focused Big Idea, "Work at the Human-Technology Frontier: Shaping the Future." Digital platforms provide the fundamental infrastructure for independent contractors working in the "gig economy" as well as for workers in the warehousing and shipping organizations that handle distribution for companies like Amazon. By generating findings about local mediation of platform capitalism, this study will produce recommendations for regional governments and firms looking to navigate these market shifts intelligently. The results of this project are to be disseminated via separate reports for regional governments, logistics and shipping organizations, independent contractors, and labor unions; accessible publications in popular outlets; an undergraduate course on platform economies; and the training and support of a doctoral student working in this area.This project will analyze how local environments mediate platform capitalism through an empirical inquiry that focuses on the translation of digital platforms into urban regions in the US. Surveillance is key to these translations; all platform-mediated commercial interactions are designed to generate data that can be harnessed for building consumer profiles, mapping and predicting trends, and manipulating individual and group behavior. The platforms to be studied are those operated by Uber, Airbnb, and Amazon. Three primary research questions will guide this inquiry: (1) How are local organizational forms and functions altered in response to platform capitalism? (2) What resistances and affordances are presented by existing technological infrastructures? and (3) How does local cultural practice mediate the deployment and use of digital platforms? To address these questions, the researcher will use multiple qualitative methods including content analysis of industry, media, and government documents; 30 semi-structured interviews with key informants; and spatial mapping of platform densities and flows across selected urban regions. The exploration of the socio-spatial implications of large-scale digital platforms will draw upon, synthesize, and contribute to surveillance studies, science and technology studies, and human geography literatures.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.