About RRR-Uber

Uberisation influencing working conditions: Rights, regulation and redistribution in Helsinki, St Petersburg and London (RRR-Uber) – this is a research project lead by Prof. Meri Koivusalo at the University of Tampere and it is funded by The Academy of Finland, 2019-2022


The emergence of new forms of platform economies, such as Uber, has disrupted the basis and context of regulation in taxi passenger services. This research project examines to what extent regulatory and legal context has shaped how Uber has become established in three cities: Helsinki, st Petersburg, and London. We will interview the experiences of drivers in each of the cities and will examine the overall operational context. We then look at the regional and global context of regulation and how and on what basis lessons may be learned across countries. The aim of our research is to understand better the relationship between “uberisation” and national and local regulatory practices as well as to examine and analyse to what extent and how new platform economies could be used to enhance social protection in the informal sector. Furthermore, we ask if and how new platform economies could – intendedly or unintendedly – contribute to globalisation of social rights.

Tampere UniversityAcademy of Finland

Research team:

Dr. Meri Koivusalo, professor of global health and development, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tampere.
Dr. Mikko Perkiö, university lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tampere.
Dr. Arseniy Svynarenko, senior researcher, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tampere.
Dr. Yana Krupets, assistant professor, deputy director of the Center for Youth Research, Higher School of Economics, St. Petersburg
Dr. Anuj Kapilashrami, senior lecturer in Global health
policy, Queen Mary University London (QMUL).