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Challenges in Constructing a Multi-dimensional European Job Quality Index

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  • Janine Leschke
  • Andrew Watt

Abstract

There are few attempts to benchmark job quality in a multi-dimensional perspective across Europe. Against this background, we have created a synthetic job quality index (JQI) for the EU27 countries in an attempt to shed light on the question of how European countries compare with each other and how they are developing over time in terms of job quality. Taking account of the multi-faceted nature of job quality, the JQI is compiled on the basis of six sub-indices which cover the most important dimensions of job quality as identified in the literature. The paper addresses the methods used to construct the JQI and make it comparable over time. It presents the results for 2010 and briefly addresses changes over time to illustrate the potential and limits of a multidimensional European JQI. It also considers alternative specifications for various sub-indices and tests for the impact of changes in the indicators used on the outcomes. Overall, the findings appear to confirm the feasibility and desirability of attempting to assess job quality by means of a composite index that can be periodically updated. The key strength of this approach is the possibility to monitor and benchmark EU countries’ overall job quality performances and the outcomes in six sub-dimensions of job quality and compare them with each other, across gender and over time. At the same time, the limitations of such a composite index need to be borne in mind. The most important challenges are the availability (over time), timeliness and periodicity, comparability and disaggregation of data. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Janine Leschke & Andrew Watt, 2014. "Challenges in Constructing a Multi-dimensional European Job Quality Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 1-31, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:118:y:2014:i:1:p:1-31
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-013-0405-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Fernández-Macías, Enrique & Muñoz de Bustillo, Rafael & Antón, José-Ignacio, 2014. "Job quality in Europe in the first decade of the 21st Century," MPRA Paper 58148, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Romel Ramón González-Díaz & Ángel Acevedo-Duque & Guido Salazar-Sepúlveda & Dante Castillo, 2021. "Contributions of Subjective Well-Being and Good Living to the Contemporary Development of the Notion of Sustainable Human Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-17, March.
    7. Georges Steffgen & Philipp E. Sischka & Martha Fernandez de Henestrosa, 2020. "The Quality of Work Index and the Quality of Employment Index: A Multidimensional Approach of Job Quality and Its Links to Well-Being at Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-31, October.
    8. María Cascales Mira, 2021. "New Model for Measuring Job Quality: Developing an European Intrinsic Job Quality Index (EIJQI)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 625-645, June.
    9. Bakker, Vincent & Van Vliet, Olaf, 2019. "Social Investment, Employment Outcomes and Policy and Institutional Complementarities: A Comparative Analysis across 26 OECD countries," MPRA Paper 96140, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Paula Franklin & Wouter Zwysen & Agnieszka Piasna, 2022. "Temporal Dimensions of Job Quality and Gender: Exploring Differences in the Associations of Working Time and Health between Women and Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-18, April.
    11. Buchmayr, A. & Verhofstadt, E. & Van Ootegem, L. & Thomassen, G. & Taelman, S.E. & Dewulf, J., 2022. "Exploring the global and local social sustainability of wind energy technologies: An application of a social impact assessment framework," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    12. Prümer, Stephanie, 2019. "Ist der Staat der bessere Arbeitgeber? Arbeitsqualität im Öffentlichen und Privaten Sektor in Deutschland," Discussion Papers 107, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    13. Elena Stefana & Filippo Marciano & Diana Rossi & Paola Cocca & Giuseppe Tomasoni, 2021. "Composite Indicators to Measure Quality of Working Life in Europe: A Systematic Review," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 1047-1078, October.
    14. Díaz-Chao, Ángel & Ficapal-Cusí, Pilar & Torrent Sellens, Joan, 2014. "Workplace or working environment? Job quality and economic crisis in Spain," EconStor Preprints 162057, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    15. Clark, Andrew E. & Kozák, Michal, 2023. "Twenty Years of Job Quality in OECD Countries: More Good News?," IZA Discussion Papers 16597, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Nikolova, Milena & Cnossen, Femke, 2020. "What makes work meaningful and why economists should care about it," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    17. Lorenza Antonucci & Carlo D’Ippoliti & Laszlo Horvath & André Krouwel, 2023. "What’s Work Got to Do with It? How Precarity Influences Radical Party Support in France and the Netherlands," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 28(1), pages 110-131, March.
    18. Antonio Ariza-Montes & Gabriele Giorgi & Felipe Hernández-Perlines & Javier Fiz-Perez, 2019. "Decent Work as a Necessary Condition for Sustainable Well-Being. A Tale of Pi(i)gs and Farmers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, February.
    19. Stef Adriaenssens & Giulia Garofalo Geymonat & Laura Oso, 2016. "Quality of Work in Prostitution and Sex Work. Introduction to the Special Section," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 21(4), pages 121-132, November.
    20. Díaz-Chao, Ángel & Ficapal-Cusí, Pilar & Torrent-Sellens, Joan, 2017. "Did small and medium enterprises maintain better jobs during the early years of the recession? Job quality multidimensional evidence from Spain," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 396-413.
    21. Bo Chen & Dong Tan, 2023. "Industrial Robots and the Employment Quality of Migrant Workers in the Manufacturing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-21, May.
    22. Agnieszka Piasna & Marcello Pedaci & Jan Czarzasty, 2021. "Multiple jobholding in Europe: features and effects of primary job quality," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 27(2), pages 181-199, May.

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