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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
ZHENG Yi
PENG Yibing
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DOI:10.17265/2159-5542/2025.07.001
The University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Business and Economics
Master of Science in Marketing, Hong Kong, China
Xiamen University, International College
Bachelor in Fashion Management Xiamen, China
Digital labour markets have became central components in the modern digital economy,fundamentally alter how work is structured, delivered, and governed. Nevertheless, the existing literature is often tend to analyze these platforms as firm-level competition, labour precarity, or algorithm management without references to the fact that the latter is embedded within broader sectoral structuresmore macro-level sectoral patterns. This study applies the Sectoral Innovation Systems (SIS) framework to examine how technological capabilities, actor-network configurations, and institutional arrangements intersect to shape the international competitiveness of digital labour platforms. Drawing on twelve semi-structured interviews，policymakers, and practitioners, the findings reveal three core determinants of cross-border competitiveness: (1) highly developed technological and knowledge resources, specifically AI, machine learning, and data-oriented optimisation; (2) embedded network and ecosystem connections that create strong network effects and provide market scalability; and (3) institutional alignment, as reflected by regulatory legitimacy and broad societal acceptance of the new model which facilitates or limits international expansion. The analysis demonstrates that competitiveness is created not only out of their individual firm-specific benefits but the co-development of technologies, networks, and institutions within the industry. This paper combines SIS theory and qualitative implications, which contributes to a more systemic view of digital labour markets and offer a conceptual ground on how the concept of platform internationalisation and governance to be researchable in future.
Digital labour markets; Sectoral innovation systems (SIS); Platform competitiveness; Network effects; Institutional alignment; Artificial intelligence (AI)
Psychology Research, July 2025, Vol. 15, No. 7
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