Platform Work, «Hybrid Informality», and Regulatory Disputes in Latin America

Abstract

In Latin America, the expansion of platform work has reopened the debate on the boundaries between formality, informality, and labor protection in historically segmented labor markets. This article aims to analyze the regulation of platform work as a process shaped by hybrid informality, algorithmic governance, and regulatory dispute. Methodologically, it adopts a qualitative approach based on documentary analysis of recent academic literature, institutional reports, and regulatory frameworks from Chile, Peru, Mexico, and Panama. The results show that platform work does not constitute a rupture with pre-existing labor dynamics, but rather a reconfiguration of informality through new technological, contractual, and organizational forms. The analysis also shows that the regulation of these forms of employment constitutes a field of dispute between economic flexibility, recognition of labor rights, and state capacity for enforcement. It is concluded that hybrid informality allows for an integrated understanding of labor transformations, regulatory tensions, and new forms of labor governance in the Latin American platform economy.