Wages of US taxi drivers eroded by Uber, not number of drivers
Research published by the University of Oxford - "Drivers of Disruption? Estimating the Uber Effect" - suggests that rather than leading to a reduction in the number of taxi drivers, the advent of ride-hail firms like Uber has eroded the wages earned by taxi drivers. Increased competition and Uber's technological advances that enable more efficient use of drivers' time are cited as reasons that taxi drivers' hourly pay fell by about 10% while Uber drivers' increased by around 10%. The study was based on on data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2009 to 2015.

When Uber rolled out in a city, the number of self-employed drivers rose on average by around 50 percent, which makes sense. But the number of traditional wage-paid taxi driver jobs didn't decrease when Uber arrived. In fact, there was a small increase in regularly employed taxi drivers.

That doesn’t mean that Uber’s presence isn’t felt. The analysis also shows that the average hourly earnings of waged taxi drivers have fallen by around 10 percent in cities where Uber is active. Meanwhile, self-employed drivers have enjoyed a 10 percent rise.

“The spread of Uber has increased competition in taxi services, contributing to lower overall incomes for taxi drivers, and a redistribution of income from payroll taxi services to self-employed drivers,” explains Carl Benedikt Frey, one of the paper’s co-authors.

The higher hourly rate for self-employed drivers is likely due to the technological advantages provided by Uber. The company’s app streamlines the process of matching cars with drivers, so despite being paid only on a per-ride basis, drivers can achieve a higher utilization of their time.

Not that Uber drivers are necessarily happy with their earnings. Earlier this month, Uber announced that it will pay $20 million to settle a lawsuit with the FTC—because it promised unrealistic earning potential.

(Read more: Drivers of Disruption?, Vice, “Uber and Lyft Are Still Trying to Avoid Acting Like Regular Employers”)