Horton, JohnKerr, WilliamStanton, Christopher2017-06-282017-06-28Horton, John, William R. Kerr, and Christopher Stanton. "Digital Labor Markets and Global Talent Flows." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-096, May 2017.http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:33110127Digital labor markets are rapidly expanding and connecting companies and contractors on a global basis. We review the environment in which these markets take root, the micro- and macro-level studies of their operations, their ongoing evolution and recent trends, and perspectives for undertaking research with micro-data from these labor platforms. We undertake new empirical analyses of Upwork data regarding 1) the alignment of micro- and macro-level approaches to disproportionate ethnic-connected exchanges on digital platforms, 2) gravity model analyses of global outsourcing contract flows and their determinants for digital labor markets, and 3) quantification of own- and cross-country elasticities for contract work by wage rate. Digital labor markets are an exciting frontier for global talent flows and growing rapidly in importance.en-USResearch Paper or Report2017-06-2810.3386/w23398