Shock Resistant
02.07.2025 - 04:07
Shock Resistant outlines novel insights into the ways that platform workers in the US used platform work as a strategy for mitigating the impacts of the pandemic and cost of living crisis.
The US has recently been hit by two distinct economic shocks that have put pressure on Americans and their families– the spike in unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent spike in the cost of living.
In the past, when confronted with these types of crises, Americans have had limited options to make ends meet. Loss of work and living through a period when prices went up and remained high left some Americans experiencing material hardships including not paying all bills and skipping medical care because of the cost. On top of this are the impacts to mental wellbeing.
The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing period of elevated inflation was the first time that major economic shocks have occurred when platform work is widely available. These events therefore provide a unique opportunity to examine the impact of platform work on Americans during economic crises.
Using a nationwide survey of platform workers in the US, combined with administrative data from Uber, academic literature, and public datasets, our new report unpacks the ways in which workers interacted with the platform economy to manage the impacts of the pandemic and inflation.
Read the full report here.
Read our latest posts
Harnessing AI in the court system
Mandala’s latest research, commissioned by Microsoft, examines how AI can help Australian courts improve access to justice by reducing persistent case backlogs. We find that three promising AI applications (smart scheduling, document review and legal research support) could deliver around 95,500 additional case finalisations a year. These applications help courts manage existing workloads more efficiently, while reinforcing the integrity of court processes.
29 Oct, 2026
Rethinking the APR
Mandala's latest research, commissioned by Block, examines whether US credit disclosure requirements remain fit for purpose in a rapidly evolving lending market. Drawing on economic analysis, a survey of nearly 1,600 US consumers and small business decision-makers, and proprietary credit data, the report finds that Annual Percentage Rate (APR) disclosures can misrepresent the perceived cost of short-term borrowing and influence consumer choices. The report makes the case for modernising credit disclosure requirements, with a more flexible approach that better reflects different credit products while preserving consumer protection and access to credit.
15 Oct, 2026
The augmented attacker: the growing AI-driven cyber threat to Australian businesses
Mandala's latest research, commissioned by CyberCX (part of Accenture), shows that the AI-driven cyber threat to Australian businesses is growing. The report finds that AI could increase the frequency and severity of cyber incidents targeting Australian businesses. As AI-driven threats grow, Australian businesses could face losses reaching up to $37 billion a year. However, investing in foundational cyber defences such as patching known vulnerabilities could reduce annual losses from $37 billion to $13 billion, a $24 billion saving. Three-quarters of the savings are from preventative actions. The report highlights the actions required from businesses and government to improve cyber defence.
13 Oct, 2026
The Stagnant Nation: Lifting Australia’s Dynamism
Australians are going backwards on real wages and income. Real wage growth has fallen from 0.6 per cent in the 2000s to -0.7 per cent today, the slowest rate since the 1990s recession. Weak productivity growth is a key driver. Productivity growth has dropped from 2.2 per cent in the 1990s to just 0.1 per cent today. The Productivity Commission has pointed to declining economic dynamism as one cause for weak growth, with fewer businesses starting, growing and competing. We confirm declining economic dynamism across five key dimensions and estimate that reversing this decline seen since the mid-2000s could see a GDP uplift of $101 billion per year over the next decade. Our analysis finds that regulation could account for around 20 per cent of declining dynamism. Reducing regulatory burden to late-2000s levels could see GDP uplift of at least $20 billion per year over the next ten years.
7 Oct, 2026