Uber’s Chief Economist issues rebuttal to MIT CEEPR’s claims over ride-hailing drivers’ earnings

Jonathan Hall, Uber’s Chief Economist, has issued a rebuttal to the claims made in a study by MIT’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR) that drivers working with ride hailing apps in the US were making very little money.

In a detailed blog, Hall took issue with the methodology used by the CEEPR study – which he claimed resulted in “hourly earnings numbers that are far, far below what any previous study has found”.

Hall added: “It is important to note that we do not take issue with the paper’s estimation of costs. They are very much in line with previously-reported costs associated with driving. But the methodology used to arrive at the eye-poppingly low earnings numbers is deeply flawed.”

Yesterday (5 March), the study’s lead author Stephen Zoepf published his own response to Uber’s concerns, in which he conceded: ” “Hall’s specific criticism is valid; in retrospect the survey questions could and should have been worded more clearly.”

Zoepf signed off his statement by saying: “In the spirit of collaboration, I ask the following from Uber, in keeping with the original objectives of this paper.

“(1) Help make an open, honest and public assessment of the range of ride-hailing driver profit after the cost of acquiring, operating and maintaining a vehicle.

“(2) Transparently present the difference between actual and tax-reportable vehicle expenses used in the business.

“In support of these goals I am happy to share existing cost data from this working paper with Uber or Lyft, or to incorporate full and accurate revenue data from Uber in this analysis should they decide to share such data.”