IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joepsy/v39y2013icp185-203.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Work ethic in formerly socialist economies

Author

Listed:
  • Linz, Susan J.
  • Luke Chu, Yu-Wei

Abstract

Do younger workers in transition economies have a different work ethic from those who were trained and employed in the former socialist economy? Is there a positive link between work ethic and earnings among workers in transition economies? We address these questions using data collected from employee surveys conducted in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Serbia. Employing a composite measure, we find that younger workers tend to adhere more strongly, and older workers less strongly. This result is obtained in the majority of cases for the individual work ethic components, as well. We also find work ethic adherence is stronger among men than women, among supervisors, and among participants who exhibit an internal locus of control. The link between work ethic and earnings is positive: participants who scored highest on the work ethic measure earn 15% more than those who scored lowest. Commonalities across these six culturally and economically diverse countries provide a foundation for developing a more global perspective of work ethic and worker performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Linz, Susan J. & Luke Chu, Yu-Wei, 2013. "Work ethic in formerly socialist economies," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 185-203.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:39:y:2013:i:c:p:185-203
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2013.07.010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167487013001001
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.joep.2013.07.010?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jörg L. Spenkuch, 2010. "The Protestant Ethic and Work: Micro Evidence from Contemporary Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 330, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. Margo Coleman & Thomas DeLeire, 2003. "An Economic Model of Locus of Control and the Human Capital Investment Decision," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 38(3).
    3. AndrewE. Clark & Nicolai Kristensen & Niels Westergård-Nielsen, 2009. "Job Satisfaction and Co-worker Wages: Status or Signal?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(536), pages 430-447, March.
    4. Alberto Alesina & Nicola Fuchs-Schundeln, 2005. "Good bye Lenin (or not?): The effect of Communism on people's preferences," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 2076, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    5. Hassall, Stacey L. & Muller, Juanita J. & Hassall, Emma J., 2005. "Comparing the Protestant work ethic in the employed and unemployed in Australia," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 327-341, June.
    6. Paola Giuliano & Antonio Spilimbergo, 2009. "Growing Up in a Recession: Beliefs and the Macroeconomy," NBER Working Papers 15321, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Zahide Karakitapoğlu Aygün & Mahmut Arslan & Salih Güney, 2008. "Work Values of Turkish and American University Students," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 80(2), pages 205-223, June.
    8. Rutkowski, Jan, 2006. "Labor market developments during economic transition," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3894, The World Bank.
    9. P. J. Sloane & H. Williams, 2000. "Job Satisfaction, Comparison Earnings, and Gender," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 14(3), pages 473-502, September.
    10. Benito Arruñada, 2010. "Protestants and Catholics: Similar Work Ethic, Different Social Ethic," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(547), pages 890-918, September.
    11. Gimpelson, Vladimir & Kapeliushnikov, Rostislav, 2011. "Labor Market Adjustment: Is Russia Different?," IZA Discussion Papers 5588, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Susan J. Linz & Anastasia Semykina, 2012. "What Makes Workers Happy? Anticipated Rewards and Job Satisfaction," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 811-844, October.
    13. Benno Torgler, 2011. "Work Values in Western and Eastern Europe," Working Papers 2011.94, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    14. Torgler, Benno, 2011. "Work Values in Western and Eastern Europe," Economy and Society 120045, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    15. Nyhus, Ellen K. & Pons, Empar, 2005. "The effects of personality on earnings," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 363-384, June.
    16. Irina Denisova & Markus Eller & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2007. "What Russians Think about Transition: Evidence from RLMS Survey," Working Papers w0114, Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR).
    17. Semykina, Anastasia & Linz, Susan J., 2007. "Gender differences in personality and earnings: Evidence from Russia," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 387-410, June.
    18. Papke, Leslie E & Wooldridge, Jeffrey M, 1996. "Econometric Methods for Fractional Response Variables with an Application to 401(K) Plan Participation Rates," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(6), pages 619-632, Nov.-Dec..
    19. Gerrit Mueller & Erik Plug, 2006. "Estimating the Effect of Personality on Male and Female Earnings," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 60(1), pages 3-22, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kaasa, Anneli, 2016. "Culture, religion and productivity: Evidence from European regions," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center (PRADEC), vol. 12(1), pages 1-18.
    2. Michael Wyrwich, 2020. "The value orientation of entrepreneurs in challenging institutional contexts: Insights from a unique historical episode," Jena Economics Research Papers 2020-001, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    3. Kathryn H. Anderson & Damir Esenaliev, 2019. "Gender Earnings Inequality and Wage Policy: Teachers, Health Care, and Social Workers in Central Asia," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 61(4), pages 551-575, December.
    4. Anneli Kaasa, 2018. "Intangible factors and productivity: Evidence from Europe at the regional level," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 14(2), pages 300-325, April.
    5. Anneli Kaasa, 2016. "Culture, religion and productivity: Evidence from European regions," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 12(1), pages 11-28, April.
    6. Banalieva, Elitsa R. & Karam, Charlotte M. & Ralston, David A. & Elenkov, Detelin & Naoumova, Irina & Dabic, Marina & Potocan, Vojko & Starkus, Arunas & Danis, Wade & Wallace, Alan, 2017. "Communist footprint and subordinate influence behavior in post-communist transition economies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 209-229.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Linz, Susan J. & Chu, Yu-Wei Luke, 2013. "Weber, Marx, and work values: Evidence from transition economies," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 431-448.
    2. Anastasia Semykina & Susan J. Linz, 2013. "Job Satisfaction and Perceived Gender Equality in Advanced Promotion Opportunities: An Empirical Investigation," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(4), pages 591-619, November.
    3. Lee, Sun Youn & Ohtake, Fumio, 2018. "Is being agreeable a key to success or failure in the labor market?," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 8-27.
    4. Santi Budria & Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell, 2012. "Income Comparisons and Non-cognitive Skills," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 441, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    5. Xue, Sen & Kidd, Michael P. & Le, Anh T. & Kirk, Kathy & Martin, Nicholas G., 2019. "The Role of Locus of Control in Education, Occupation, Income and Healthy Habits: Evidence from Australian Twins," GLO Discussion Paper Series 371, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Xue, Sen & Kidd, Michael P. & Le, Anh.T. & Kirk, Kathy & Martin, Nicholas G., 2020. "The role of locus of control in adulthood outcomes: Evidence from Australian twins," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 566-588.
    7. Engelhardt, Carina, 2017. "Unemployment and personality: Are conscientiousness and agreeableness related to employability?," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-621, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    8. Didier Fouarge & Trudie Schils & Andries de Grip, 2013. "Why do low-educated workers invest less in further training?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(18), pages 2587-2601, June.
    9. Eva M. Berger & Luke Haywood, 2016. "Locus of Control and Mothers’ Return to Employment," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(4), pages 442-481.
    10. Caliendo, Marco & Mahlstedt, Robert & Mitnik, Oscar A., 2017. "Unobservable, but unimportant? The relevance of usually unobserved variables for the evaluation of labor market policies," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 14-25.
    11. Marta Palczynska, 2018. "Wage premia for skills: The complementarity of cognitive and non-cognitive skills," IBS Working Papers 09/2018, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    12. Glewwe, Paul & Song, Yang & Zou, Xianqiang, 2022. "Labor market outcomes, cognitive skills, and noncognitive skills in rural China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 294-311.
    13. Christophe J Nordman & Leopold R Sarr & Smriti Sharma, 2019. "Skills, personality traits, and gender wage gaps: evidence from Bangladesh," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 71(3), pages 687-708.
    14. Jutta Viinikainen & Katja Kokko & Lea Pulkkinen & Jaakko Pehkonen, 2010. "Personality and Labour Market Income: Evidence from Longitudinal Data," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 24(2), pages 201-220, June.
    15. Nordman, Christophe Jalil & Sarr, Leopold & Sharma, Smriti, 2015. "Cognitive, Non-Cognitive Skills and Gender Wage Gaps: Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data in Bangladesh," IZA Discussion Papers 9132, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Linda Kamas & Anne Preston, 2020. "Does Empathy Pay? Evidence on Empathy and Salaries of Recent College Graduates," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 169-188, June.
    17. Matthias Collischon, 2020. "The Returns to Personality Traits Across the Wage Distribution," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 34(1), pages 48-79, March.
    18. Bucciol, Alessandro & Zarri, Luca, 2017. "Do personality traits influence investors’ portfolios?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 1-12.
    19. Linz, Susan J. & Semykina, Anastasia, 2009. "Personality traits as performance enhancers? A comparative analysis of workers in Russia, Armenia and Kazakhstan," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 71-91, February.
    20. Ibrahim Mohammed & Priscilla Twumasi Baffour & Wassiuw Abdul Rahaman, 2021. "Gender Differences in Earnings Rewards to Personality Traits in Wage-employment and Self-employment Labour Markets," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 46(2), pages 204-228, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Work ethic; Earnings; Locus of control; Transition economies; Generation; Gender;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • P2 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:39:y:2013:i:c:p:185-203. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/joep .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.