| This paper investigates a different approach to tackling the challenges of “gig workers” in labor-based platform companies. The two current strategies are government regulation and the formation of platform cooperatives. The authors offer a third strategy, which is to democratize and adapt the Employee Stock Ownership Plan in order to obtain co-ownership in the local subsidiaries of labor-based platforms. This option gives municipal and national authorities a new instrument with which to govern the platform sector. The focus of the paper is on labor-based platforms, which are defined as platforms that offer labor services, rely on technology to lower labor costs, and are usually natural monopolies (e.g., Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc). |