Older People in the Platform Economy

Abstract

Since the platform economies have emerged, there are many new ways how people can perform earning activities. These new opportunities concern older people too. However, some authors write that the actors of the platform economy are mainly younger people and it is not typical that older people work through platforms.We cite the opposite case of Oszkar (Hungarian On-line Passenger Intermediary System) where the ratio of older (55+) drivers to the total number of chauffeurs increased in time. At the same time, 30–40% of all drivers do not declare their age. In our paper, we analyse why older people do not declare their age. Using the results of our online survey and a Bayesian game theoretic model we prove that in the equilibrium state older people are frequently against letting others know their real age when they apply to work through a platform. We think that the cause is still existing age discrimination.