This study aims to examine why formally similar platform labour regulations produce divergent compliance outcomes across countries, developing the concept of algorithmic decoupling to theorise the mechanism through which institutional asymmetry is operationally sustained.
A comparative institutional analysis of 23 countries operationalises state capacity through a multidimensional Digital Governance Capacity Effects profile using five Worldwide Governance Indicators dimensions and measures regulatory evasion through an Algorithmic Decoupling Effect. Five separate bivariate ordinary least squares models eliminate multicollinearity by construction (VIF = 1.0 per model), with cross-model convergence as the robustness criterion.
Bivariate models indicate that higher institutional capacity is negatively associated with algorithmic decoupling (Adjusted R² ranging from 0.338 to 0.480). ANOVA (F = 14.967 and p < 0.001) and MANOVA (Wilks’ Lambda = 0.1915 and p = 0.0011) validate regional clusters as structurally distinct environments. Voice and Accountability present the highest explanatory power (Adjusted R² = 0.480), while boundary cases in Chile and Belgium reveal that partial institutional strength is insufficient to constrain decoupling without holistic governance capacity.
The availability of the sample of 23 countries and the cross-sectional design preclude causal inference. Theoretically, the findings extend institutional decoupling theory by identifying a computationally embedded mechanism that operates through algorithmic opacity rather than structural separation.
Effective platform regulation requires holistic governance capacity across enforcement, integrity, accountability and regulatory quality dimensions simultaneously. Sector-specific auditing units and mandatory algorithmic transparency obligations are identified as priority instruments.
By exposing how platforms exploit institutional asymmetries, this research highlights the structural drivers of digital precarity in the Global South, advocating for sovereign data infrastructures to protect gig workers’ rights.
This study contributes a novel operationalisation of state capacity as a multidimensional institutional profile, a bivariate analytical strategy that resolves multicollinearity without composite index aggregation and empirical evidence of an institutional gradient structuring platform compliance regimes across 23 countries.
