TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Jha, Natasha
AU  - Abel, Martin
AU  - Piraino, Patrizio
        TI  - The Price of Unpredictability: Scheduling Demands, Gender and Selection in the Gig Economy
        PY  - 2026/Sep/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18976
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18976
        AB  - We study how scheduling demands shape gig-work supply and its composition in an experiment with U.S. gig workers, eliciting reservation wages for contracts varying in advance notice, timing, and duration. No-notice contracts raise reservation wages by 13–14 percent, while outside-hours work with notice carries little penalty. Women require 5–6 percent more than men for outside-hours or no-notice work, and 8–9 percent more when combined. These gaps are largest among workers with heavy household-chore burdens and inflexible schedules. Higher-productivity workers also require larger no-notice premiums. At a given wage, demanding contracts therefore reduce labor supply and select a lower-productivity labor pool.
        KW  - scheduling demands
KW  - gig economy
KW  - gender gap
KW  - reservation wages
KW  - worker selection
        ER  -