> ...leading to zero effect on monthly earnings. We find evidence that drivers experienced more unpaid idle time and longer distances driven between tasks, but find no evidence that drivers reduced their total time working on delivery apps
Same effective income despite more idle time doesn't sound so bad.
It's bad because they're spending the same amount of time "working", but generating less output. It's a loss for customers, who either have to pay more or forego the service altogether.
And it’s a win for the new group of drivers who ostensibly used to have a worse paying job. These dollars probably have more marginal utility for the people delivering doordash than for those consumers. If we want to be technical.
Same effective income despite more idle time doesn't sound so bad.