Journal of Organizational Behavior: Special Issue Call for Papers

Gig Workers and Side Hustlers: Advancing Organizational Behavior Research for a Modernized Employee Population

Guest Editors: Jason L. Huang (Michigan State University, USA), Nathan A. Bowling (Wright State University, USA), and Dongyuan Wu (Fudan University, China).

Gig economy is an economic system that uses online platforms to digitally connect workers with consumers. It is estimated that gig workers in the United States, European countries, and some Asian countries account for 1/6 to 1/3 of the entire workforce. While some people participate in the gig economy on a full-time basis, others hold full-time primary jobs while engaging in the gig economy as side hustlers.

Management scholars have recently begun to study gig workers and side hustlers. These recent developments provide an impetus for the current Special Issue to broadly investigate how to incorporate gig work and side hustles in current theories and research in organizational behavior. On the one hand, because of its transactional nature, participation and engagement in the gig economy may limit how existing theories can apply to gig work. On the other hand, understanding full-time employees’ experience in the gig economy can provide unique opportunities for scholars to shed new light on behavior in organizations.

For this special issue, we welcome both conceptual papers and empirical studies that advance theory in organizational behavior. All manuscripts will be reviewed by the guest editors to evaluate their fit with the Special Issue and the rigor of the research. Manuscripts will go through the standard JOB double-blind review process. The submission window is November 1-30, 2022. Please direct any questions to either Jason L. Huang (huangjl@msu.edu), Nathan A. Bowling (nathan.bowling@wright.edu), and Dongyuan Wu (wdy@fudan.edu.cn).   

Read the full Call for Papers.