Felipe Merlano

Global labour markets face significant disruption from the rapid advance of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. Digital or gig economy workers, like freelancers and online independent contractors, are more exposed to the disruptive impacts of technological changes due to their flexible working conditions, which often come with flexible contracts, less robust legal agreements and other unstable working conditions. This study explores how gig economy workers benefit from alternative privacy-enhancing decentralised reputation systems and technologies that enable them to manage information like education, certifications, credentials, and professional experience, both by collecting and sharing information with employers. We propose a blockchain framework comprising three components: (1) Self-sovereign identity (SSI) enabling cryptographically secured, portable control over credentials via decentralised storage; (2) Immutable reputation registries leveraging consensus mechanisms to secure tamper-proof work histories; and (3) Privacy-preserving signalling using zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to let workers selectively disclose reputation metrics without revealing sensitive details. We combine Signalling Theory (ST) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to empirically assess real workers' intentions to use this type of decentralised reputation system. Our framework enhances transparency, worker autonomy, and privacy in the digital economy.

Purpose: The expansion of online shopping aligned with challenging economic conditions have contributed to increasing fraudulent retail product returns. Retailers employ numerous interventions typically determined by embedded perspectives within the company (supply side) rather than consumer-based assessments of their effectiveness (demand side). This study aims to understand how customers evaluate counter-fraud measures on opportunistic returns fraud in the UK. Based on the Fraud Triangle and the Theory of Planned Behaviour, we develop an empirically informed framework to assist retail practice. Design/methodology/approach: We collected 485 valid survey responses about consumer attitudes regarding which interventions are effective against different types of returns fraud. First, a principal component section evaluates the policies' effectiveness to identify any policy grouping that could help prioritise specific sets of policies. Second, cluster analysis follows a two-stage approach, where cluster size is determined, and then survey respondents are partitioned into subgroups based on how similar their beliefs are regarding the effectiveness of anti-fraud policies. Findings: We identify policies relating to perceived effectiveness of interventions and create customer profiles to assist retailers in conceptualising potential opportunistic fraudsters. Our product returns fraud framework adopts a consumer perspective to capture the perceived behavioural control of potential fraudsters. Results suggest effectiveness of different types of interventions vary between different types of consumers, which leads to the development of managerial implications to combat the fraud. Originality/value: This study is unique in assessing the perceived effectiveness of a range of interventions based on data collection and advanced analytics to combat fraudulent product returns in omnichannel retail.

The transition to more sustainable and circular business models (CMBs) is complex, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often struggle with the intricacies and additional costs of achieving sustainability. To address these challenges, we developed an interactive web application – the Circularity Radar – in the open-source language for statistical computing and data visualisation R. We used the Shiny package, which provides desirable features for businesses such as a choice between local or online deployment that preserves data privacy, an interactive interface that allows users to specify the conditions under which computations are executed, and dynamic visualisations rendered through input variables. The Circularity Radar can provide low-cost insights to guide SMEs and practitioners in retail and manufacturing industries in exploring the drivers of their sustainability transition, assessing their situations, and understanding the obstacles they must overcome. Our tool incorporates a digital companion framework that involves seven elements of circularity: sustainable materials, sustainable operations, eco-design, product stewardship, R-terms, strategic organisational positioning, and social aspects. Additionally, the Circularity Radar presents alternative instruments and metrics businesses can use to quantitatively and qualitatively assess their progress regarding CBM implementation.