Track 02
OECD pilots on platform work: definitions that must hold before a count is wound onto the spool
Before a national statistical office can wind platform-mediated work onto an employment or income “spool,” it needs a definition that survives fieldwork. OECD measurement discussions emphasize digital intermediation, payment flows and the boundary between employment and independent contracting—still contested across countries.
Why the catalog comes first
If “platform work” mixes delivery apps, remote microtasks and offline booking tools without shared criteria, prevalence estimates cannot be compared. Pilot questionnaires therefore spend as much effort on inclusion rules as on headline percentages. Spool Pad treats those rules as the index card, not as a product roadmap.
Typical definition tensions
- Whether the platform must set price, match clients or only host listings.
- Whether unpaid waiting time or login time enters the reference week.
- How multi-apping and secondary jobs are double-counted or split across instruments.
Limits to keep visible
Cross-country pilots often rely on convenience samples or module add-ons with uneven response. Digital literacy, language and trust affect who reports platform activity. Administrative tax data may capture receipts that survey self-reports miss—or the reverse—so triangulation is incomplete.
What this note does not claim
This track does not rank platforms, advise workers on joining marketplaces or project earnings. It only summarizes why measurement catalogs insist on definitions before counts are treated as comparable statistics.