Micro-Task Smartphone Crowdsourcing Compensation Model

In Simple Words

Think of earning money like filling a bucket with water drops using a spoon whenever you have a free minute, rather than needing to run a hose for three hours straight. Small, independent mobile tasks allow workers to earn income in tiny increments during brief moments of spare time.

Research question

Traditional hourly formal employment structures exclude individuals who cannot commit to uninterrupted multi-hour shifts. Low-income women without continuous free time are unable to monetize brief, scattered periods of availability throughout the day.

Participants

1,670 households in Kolkata, West Bengal, India utilizing Microsoft Research's Project Karya smartphone platform.

Study Design

Randomized field evaluation testing part-time piece-rate micro-tasks (recording Bengali/Hindi audio sentences and audio verification) over two 4-week intervention rounds.

Results

Participants earned approximately INR 1 ($0.013 USD in 2021) per verified task, earning up to INR 4,000 ($52 USD) across the intervention duration.

Takeaway

Develop smartphone-based micro-task applications with modular piece-rate payments to convert fragmented domestic spare time into household liquid earnings.

Related findings

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• Ability-Heterogeneous Wage Returns →Labour & employment

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• Activation Program Threat Effect →Labour & employment

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• Actual vs. Potential Experience Bias →Labour & employment

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