Only the smartest? Motivating job characteristics for all ability levels and their impact on job satisfaction

Using Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies data, we explore the relation between cognitive ability, proxied by an explicit test of individual numeracy level and the reported satisfaction of individuals with their job. The paper identifies a relation of individual cognitive ability on job satisfaction interacting with some characteristics of the job related to job complexity, namely job autonomy and learning opportunity in the workplace. We found that individuals with different levels of cognitive ability exhibit different levels of job satisfaction depending on how much learning and job autonomy allows their employment. Individuals with low level of cognitive ability enjoy more their job autonomy than individuals in the top of the ability distribution. The learning effect brings the most profits to the utility of workers from the middle quartiles. Finally, planning is most enjoyed at the top of the distribution. We discuss the implication of these findings from a practical perspective.     

Are false own-account workers less job satisfied than true ones?

This article compares job satisfaction of true and false own-account workers. The latter group refers to own-account workers who are employed with the same tasks by the same employer for whom they previously worked as employees. To create a valid comparable group, the former workers are defined as paid employees who independently started a new business as own-account workers. Using data drawn from the European Community Household Panel for the EU-15 and controlling for possible self-selection issues, we observe that false own-account workers, compared with true ones, have less job satisfaction in terms of type of work, number of working hours, working times, and working conditions and environment. Our results are consistent with existing policies aimed to combat false self-employment developed by many OECD countries.     

I’m too clever for this job: a bivariate probit analysis on overeducation and job satisfaction in Australia

Using data from the first wave of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia data set, this article establishes an empirical relationship between overeducation and workplace satisfaction for Australian adult males in the labour force. In a departure from much of the existing literature, both univariate and bivariate probit models are used to account for potential unobserved heterogeneity. We find that estimates in the univariate probit models are positively biased for three of the six measures of workplace satisfaction studied. This suggests that consideration should be given to the use of bivariate models when studying the determinants of workplace satisfaction and overeducation. Results show, although levels of satisfaction remain high, that across all measures of workplace satisfaction overeducated workers are less satisfied compared to their nonovereducated counterparts. This intimates that satisfaction levels should be viewed from a relative, rather than an absolute perspective. ‘Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work’ Aristotle 384BC–322BC     

Job satisfaction and co-worker pay in Canadian firms

One reason to be concerned about income inequality is the idea that people care about not only their own absolute income but also their income relative to various reference groups (co-workers, friends, neighbours, relatives, etc.). We use Canadian linked employer–employee data to estimate the casual effect of co-worker pay on a worker's reported job and pay satisfaction. Since worker satisfaction can affect the worker's productivity, organizational commitment, turnover, creativity and innovation as well as the firm's productivity and profitability, this is an issue that requires more attention and careful examination. In models that control for a rich set of workplace characteristics, we find that co-worker pay has a large positive and significant effect on both pay and job satisfaction. In our preferred models with establishment-level fixed effects, the effect of co-worker pay on pay satisfaction is half as large and the effect on job satisfaction completely disappears, suggesting that part (all) of what previous studies attribute to the effect of co-worker pay on worker pay (job) satisfaction is driven by unobserved heterogeneity across firms or establishments. Our results also suggest that the effect of co-worker pay on worker satisfaction is much stronger for workers who leave their job during the following year. Finally, we find that while co-worker pay has a positive effect on pay satisfaction among Canadian-born whites, it has a negative effect among immigrants and Canadian-born visible minorities.     

Assessing the impact of different workplace flexibilities on workplace stress in the presence of varying degrees of job control

We apply probit and propensity score matching to 1667 respondents from the 2008 National Survey of the Changing Workforce to quantify how workers’ self-reported stress levels vary under two different workplace flexibilities and varying degrees of job control. The first workplace flexibility considered is the ability to easily take time off for personal and family matters; the second is the option of a compressed work week. Our findings suggest that the first flexibility correlates with lower stress reports regardless of job control level. The second flexibility, however, correlates with lower stress levels only for workers with low levels of job control. This suggests that a compressed work week does not reduce stress for workers that already have high levels of job control. The more general conclusion is that some flexibilities are substitutes for job control whereas other are not, assuming the larger goal is the reduction of workplace stress and the various maladies exacerbated by stress.     

Job satisfaction,job match quality and labour supply decisions

This paper introduces job satisfaction into neoclassical theory of labour supply. This simple integration produces non-trivial results: job satisfaction is able to reduce disutility of labour, thus increasing labour supply; also, if job satisfaction is very high, labour could generate utility, while leisure could provide disutility. In this paper, job satisfaction, and thus job match quality, is specified in terms of appropriate collocation of the worker in the workplace; in short, the higher the matching between the investment in education and the task assigned in the workplace, the higher the job satisfaction. An empirical analysis substantiates the two main predictions of this paper, namely the key role of job satisfaction in time allocation and labour supply decisions and the plausibility of our view about job satisfaction.     

Compensating wage differences

The paper develops a model of the allocation of workers to jobs based on individual's preferences for job satisfaction vs earnings. Given the distribution of levels of job satisfaction and productivities, it is possible to solve explicitly for wages as a function of job satisfaction. More productive individuals will take more (less) satisfying jobs whenever the elasticity of substitution between job satisfaction and earnings is less (greater) than one. The paper also discusses the effects of inequality on earnings of high and low productivity workers and the effects of compensating wage differences on the distribution of earnings.     

Making the risk of job loss a way of life: Does it affect job satisfaction?

This study investigates the relationship between job satisfaction and job security in European countries. In doing so, it attempts to take into account the endogenous nature of the job security–job satisfaction relationship after controlling for the various economic and personal characteristics. The results show that workers in jobs with low likelihood of job termination derive higher utility from work compared to the workers in insecure jobs. This holds even after controlling for endogeneity by using both a conventional IV approach and a selection model. This appears to be the case for both men and women.     

PARTICIPATION IN WORKPLACE EMPLOYER‐SPONSORED TRAINING IN CANADA: ROLE OF FIRM CHARACTERISTICS AND WORKER ATTRIBUTES

In this work, we study the role of firm characteristics and worker attributes in determining participation in workplace employer‐sponsored training in Canada using the Workplace and Employee Survey (WES) of Statistics Canada. We attempt to answer the following questions using the rich information of firms that are available in WES data: Does firms' provision of workplace training encourage workers' participation in Canada? How do changes in market competition, organizational changes, and technological innovation affect workers' participation in workplace training in Canada? We find that firms' training provision significantly affects workers' participation in Canada. We also find that increased international competition, organizational changes, and technological innovation are significantly correlated with workers' training participation at workplaces. We note that workers in some sectors and in smaller firms have lower workplace training incidence and older, part‐time, production and marketing/sales workers and workers with preschool children participate less in workplace training. (JEL J080, J240, J290)     

Job satisfaction and quit intentions of offshore workers in the UK North Sea oil and gas industry

The North Sea oil and gas industry currently faces recruitment and retention difficulties because of a shortage of skilled workers. One means of retaining existing employees is to improve workers’ job satisfaction. In this paper, we investigate the determinants of job satisfaction and intentions to quit within this industry sector. We find that individuals in good financial situations, those whose skills are closely related to their job and those who received training reported higher levels of job satisfaction. Furthermore, we establish the importance of job satisfaction, promotion prospects and training opportunities in determining workers’ intentions to quit their job.     

What drives the perception of health and safety risks in the workplace? Evidence from European labour markets

Worker perceptions of job-related health risk are a little-studied dimension of heterogeneity in the labour market. According to information from the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), one out of three European workers considers that her health and safety is at risk because of work. Not surprisingly, risk perceptions are influenced by objective risk factors such as hazardous working conditions, onerous job characteristics and by the probability to be affected by occupational accidents and illnesses. This paper explores also the role played by personal characteristics and household structure for the explanation of risk perceptions. After controlling for job characteristics, workplace hazards, job satisfaction and health outcomes, I find that risk perceptions are strongly correlated with gender, age, and household structure. Lone parents as well as older and more experienced workers have a higher propensity than other categories to consider their health at risk because of work. The same seems to hold true for better educated workers, especially for those who have completed tertiary education. Further results suggest that the relationship between household structure and risk perception is stable across gender.     

DO STATE EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION LAWS AFFECT JOB TURNOVER?

State laws requiring employers to verify workers' employment eligibility may reduce employment and earnings among unauthorized workers and make it difficult for them to switch jobs. Using data from the 2005–2014 Quarterly Workforce Indicators, we find evidence of a reduction in employment and job turnover among Hispanics as a whole in states that require all employers to verify employment eligibility. These adverse effects become larger as the share of likely unauthorized Hispanic workers falls. The drop in job turnover may be due to the laws trapping some Hispanic workers in their jobs. There is little effect on employment or job turnover among non‐Hispanic whites or blacks. There is no effect on average pay for all groups of workers. (JEL J15, J61, J68)     

Optimal Income Taxation and Job Choice

In this paper, we study optimal income taxation when different job types exist for workers of different skills. Each job type has some feasible range of incomes from which workers choose by varying labor supply. Workers are more productive than others in the jobs that suit them best. The model combines features of the classic optimal tax literature with labor variability along the intensive margin, with the extensive‐margin approach where workers make discrete job choices and/or participation decisions. We find that first‐best maximin utility can be achieved in the second‐best, and marginal tax rates below the top can be negative or zero.     

How important is the type of working contract for job satisfaction of agency workers?

Previous research finds that agency workers are less satisfied with their job than regular workers. This paper analyzes whether this difference can be explained by the duration of the working contract agency workers are employed on. The analysis leads to three results. First, agency workers’ contract type does not explain their lower job satisfaction. Second, agency workers on permanent contracts are significantly less satisfied with their job than regular workers on the same contract. Third, agency workers on fixed-term contracts do not differ in job satisfaction from regular workers on both fixed-term and permanent contracts. The difference in job satisfaction between permanently employed agency and regular workers can partly be explained by changes in the reference point. Overall, the results, however, lend support to the conclusion that agency workers on fixed-term contracts regard their employment as stepping stone while those on permanent contracts appear to be trapped in this type of employment.     

NETWORK SEARCH: CLIMBING THE JOB LADDER FASTER

We introduce an irregular network structure into a model of frictional, on‐the‐job search in which workers find jobs through their network connections or directly from firms. We show network‐found jobs have higher wages, and thus better‐connected workers climb the job ladder faster. The mean field approach allows us to formulate heterogeneous workers' recursive problem tractably. Our calibration is consistent with several empirical findings because of a composition—not information—effect. We also introduce new model‐consistent evidence: Job‐to‐job switches at higher ladder rungs are more likely to use networks.     

Employment Protection and Unemployment Benefits: On Technology Adoption and Job Creation in a Matching Model

We analyse the effects of different labour‐market policies (employment protection, unemployment benefits, and payroll taxes) on job creation and technology choices in a model where firms are matched with workers of different productivity and wages are determined by ex post bargaining. The model is characterized by two intertwined sources of inefficiency, namely a matching externality and a hold‐up externality associated with the bargaining strength of workers. The results depend on the relative importance of the two externalities and on worker risk aversion. “Flexicurity”, meaning low employment protection and generous unemployment insurance, can be optimal if workers are sufficiently risk‐averse and the hold‐up problem is relatively important.     

Job Security,Financial Security and Worker Well‐being: New Evidence on the Effects of Flexible Employment

This paper uses panel data drawn from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey to provide new evidence of the links between unemployment, wages, job security, financial security and workers' well‐being for workers in flexible employment. Our findings indicate that workers in flexible employment encounter more unemployment and experience increased job insecurity; unemployment is associated with wage penalties. Lower wages, job insecurity and financial insecurity affect well‐being. However, these negative outcomes are mitigated by longer job tenure. Our results have implications for moves towards a flexicurity model of employment     

A MATCHING MODEL WITH ENDOGENOUS SKILL REQUIREMENTS>*

We consider a labor market in which workers differ in their abilities and jobs differ in their skill requirements. The distribution of worker abilities is exogenous, but we model the choice of skill requirements by firms. High‐skill jobs produce more output than low‐skill jobs, but high‐skill jobs require high‐skill workers and thus are more difficult to fill. We use a matching model together with a Nash bargaining approach to wage setting to determine the equilibrium mix of job types, along with the equilibrium relationship between worker and job characteristics, wages, and unemployment.     

Job creation,job destruction,labour mobility and wages in Poland, 1988–19981

Longitudinal data from interviews with Poles of working age conducted in 1988, 1993 and 1998 combined with longitudinal firm‐level data present a detailed view of the transition from a state‐dominated to a market economy. Job losses in state firms and job creation in new private firms are the dominant employment changes, other than retirements from the labour force. In the Polish case, a significant proportion of this movement over the 1988–1998 period involves a spell of unemployment or exit from the labour force before obtaining a private sector job. This results in considerable job competition between workers leaving the state sector and those who are out of the labour force or unemployed. Income differences between the state sector and the de novo sector appear to have little association with mobility. These results suggest that movement to the new private sector is more likely to be the result of job loss than the result of people looking for better, higher paying jobs. Self‐employment plays an important role in the development of the private sector. People working on their own account have higher incomes than wageworkers and are likely to become owners employing additional workers. Incomes are higher in regions with high rates of job creation and depressed in regions with job destruction.     

Trade,tasks and training: The effect of offshoring on individual skill upgrading

We offer a theoretical explanation and empirical evidence for a positive link between increased offshoring and individual skill upgrading. Skill upgrading takes the form of on‐the‐job training, complementing the existing literature, which mainly focuses on the retraining of displaced workers. To establish a link between offshoring and on‐the‐job training, we introduce an individual skill upgrading margin into the Grossman and Rossi‐Hansberg ( 2008 ) model of offshoring. By scaling up worker's wages, offshoring creates previously unexploited skill upgrading possibilities, which lead to more training. Using data from German manufacturing, we establish a causal link between industry‐level offshoring growth and increased individual skill upgrading.