International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

E-ISSN: 2582-2160   •   Impact Factor: 9.24

A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Call for Paper Volume 8, Issue 3 (May-June 2026) Submit your research before last 3 days of June to publish your research paper in the issue of May-June.
Submit Research Paper Join as a Reviewer

Plagiarism is checked by the leading plagiarism checker TurnItIn

Call for Paper

Volume 8 Issue 3
May-June 2026

Submit your research paper

Indexing Partners
Academia Advanced Sciences Index Bielefeld Academic Search Engine CiteSeer DRJI Google Scholar Independent Search Engine & Directory Network ISI (International Scientific Indexing) Issuu Mendeley Research Networks
RefSeek ResearcherId - Thomson Reuters ResearchGate Scirus Scribd Semantic Scholar UTeM - Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka Wiki for Call for Papers WorldCat Zenodo

Lemons in the Labour Market: Information Asymmetry, Adverse Selection, and Credit Exclusion in India's Gig Economy

Author(s) Mr. Maneesh Awasthi, Ms. Prashasti Tripathi
Country India
Abstract India’s gig economy is projected to grow from 7.7 million workers in FY2020–21 to 23.5 million by 2029–30, yet the overwhelming majority of platform workers remain excluded from formal credit markets. The mechanism is informational, not financial: traditional credit-scoring systems cannot interpret the data that gig workers produce. Drawing on Akerlof’s (1970) model of adverse selection and Spence’s (1973) signalling theory, this paper argues that India’s gig credit market exhibits the structural properties of a lemons market, where lenders, unable to distinguish creditworthy from non-creditworthy informal borrowers, either price credit beyond reach or exit altogether. Two existing data sources, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transaction histories and e-Shram registration records, are identified as credible, low-cost signals capable of resolving this failure. Using secondary data from NITI Aayog, the Reserve Bank of India, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, and recent NBER empirical work, the paper proposes a dual-pillar policy framework: institutionalising platform behavioural data as an alternative underwriting input through the Unified Lending Interface (ULI), and mandating e-Shram registration for gig aggregators to establish formal worker identity. The central finding is that the infrastructure required to correct this market failure is already operational; what is missing is the institutional commitment to integrate it.
Keywords information asymmetry , gig economy, credit exclusion, UPI, e-Shram, Akerlof, Spence, Unified Lending Interface, financial inclusion, India
Field Sociology > Economics
Published In Volume 8, Issue 3, May-June 2026
Published On 2026-05-11
View / Download PDF File

Share this



E-ISSN 2582-2160
CrossRef

CrossRef DOI is assigned to each research paper published in our journal.

IJFMR DOI prefix is
10.36948/ijfmr

Downloads
Research Paper Format Copyright Permission Form and Undertaking Form Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 2Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 1Cover Page Vol 7 Isu 6

All research papers published on this website are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, and all rights belong to their respective authors/researchers.

CC-BY-SA Open Access

About IJFMR
Fees & Payment
Current Issue
Publication Archive 		Submit Research Paper
Track Submission Status
Publication Guidelines
Publication Ethics
Peer Review & Plagiarism 		Join as a Reviewer
Editors & Reviewers
Reviewer Referral Program
Get Reviewer Membership Certi. 		Website/Journal Policies
Usage Policy
Content Policies
Privacy Policy
Contact Us +91-9687-828-838 editor@ijfmr.com
Powered by Sky Research Publication and Journals