Crowdsourcing and Contests: A new digital working class. The Case of CoContest

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CEPS_thinktank

Thinking ahead for Europe

Crowdsourcing and Contests: A new digital working class.The Case of CoContest

www.ceps.eu

INGRID Winter School24-11-2015, Brussels

ILARIA MASELLI & BRIAN FABO

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What is CoContest• The Uber of designers• 516 designers registered (Sept. 2015) with at least 2

contests

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Why analyzing CoContest?• Crowdsourcing of a high-skilled task• Both highly technical and creative• Typical non-tradable sector

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What is interesting? • The demand for design work• The supply• The earnings on the platform• The international competition

5The demand side: Contests by country

Italy67%

USA11%

UK3%

Brazil2%

Rest of the World17%

Italy USAUK BrazilRest of the World

* 267 contests launched

6The supply side: Designers by country

Italy70%

Serbia8%

Spain3%

Bul-garia2%

Greece2%

UK1%

Por-tugal1%

Brazil1%

Romania1%

Rest of the World10%

* 516 designers with 2 contests submitted

7Designers by country (2)

47€

8Is that enough to make a living? Italy Vs Serbia

Average monthly net salary (Numbeo)

Italy Serbia

1,477 334

Average earnings per submission

Italy Serbia

36 69

N. of contests needed to earn a living, per month/week

Italy Serbia

41 / 10.2 4.8 / 1.2

…A crowdsourced global database

9The trade pattern in the digital labour market• A north-employer / south-contractor system? NO!• But designers from developing economies more likely to

be more experienced

• Why supply work from a developed economy • If no other possibility• If no experience and high entry barriers• If need for low fixed costs and high flexibility in work

organization

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So what?• It’s complicated – both the demand and the supply• Webcrawling can be a source of info• Policymakers should not draft legislation before we

understand better=> crowdsource more research work!

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@IlariaInBxl @CEPS_thinktank

Ilaria.Maselli@ceps.euBrian.Fabo@ceps.eu

www.ceps.eu

Thank you for the attention