No Idle Assets: Returns to Labour in Platform‐Mediated Services in Nairobi

Manufacturing‐led transformation has failed to materialize in many low‐ and middle‐income country (LMIC) cities, making services the primary site of labour absorption. Digital platforms like ride hailing may increase productivity in previously informal, atomized service markets. But there are fierce debates about the extent to which those productivity gains accrue to workers. Studies of platform worker earnings in high‐income contexts pool returns to capital and labour, which may not be appropriate in LMICs where ‘idle assets’ are rare. This article reports digital driving earnings from a 6‐week panel survey of 450 digital drivers in Nairobi, isolating driver returns to labour from those to capital. Returns to labour alone fall below the minimum wage and near the poverty line. Improving job quality in platform‐mediated services requires policies that address capital constraints, not just wage floors.