IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v157y2021i3d10.1007_s11205-021-02688-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Composite Indicators to Measure Quality of Working Life in Europe: A Systematic Review

Author

Listed:
  • Elena Stefana

    (University of Brescia)

  • Filippo Marciano

    (University of Brescia)

  • Diana Rossi

    (University of Brescia)

  • Paola Cocca

    (University of Brescia)

  • Giuseppe Tomasoni

    (University of Brescia)

Abstract

In the last two decades, Quality of Working Life (QWL) has become a core element of the European social model and the European Employment Strategy. “More and better jobs” is a strategic goal promoted within Europe for emphasising the attention in QWL. However, there is a large debate in the literature on the definition of QWL, its dimensions, and consequently on the methods to use for its measurement. To the best of our knowledge, the systematic reviews currently available in the literature on QWL measurement in European organisations investigate only a particular industry and/or working population. Moreover, they do not focus specifically on composite indicators, although they appear promising in facilitating QWL understanding and comparisons for supporting decision-makers and policy makers. To overcome these gaps, we conducted a systematic review to identify composite indicators for measuring QWL in European organisations. The review returned 19 studies that are analysed based on a set of factors related to QWL locutions, index name, geographical area, industry or population, level of analysis, dimensions, type of data, inputs, outputs, and test and/or validation. The results highlight a significant heterogeneity among the indicators, confirming the lack of an agreed upon QWL composite indicator for Europe. Such heterogeneity concerns also QWL dimensions. A critical comparison of the different composite indicators is provided, along with a unifying proposal of QWL macro-dimensions. Several gaps in the literature are pointed out suggesting directions for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:157:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-021-02688-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-021-02688-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-021-02688-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-021-02688-6?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. Erik Schokkaert & Luc Van Ootegem & Elsy Verhofstadt, 2011. "Preferences and Subjective Satisfaction: Measuring Well-being on the Job for Policy Evaluation," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 57(4), pages 683-714, December.
    2. Nuno Crespo & Nádia Simões & José Castro Pinto, 2013. "Determinant factors of job quality in Europe," Working Papers Series 2 13-01, ISCTE-IUL, Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL).
    3. Santero-Sanchez, Rosa & Segovia-Pérez, Mónica & Castro-Nuñez, Belen & Figueroa-Domecq, Cristina & Talón-Ballestero, Pilar, 2015. "Gender differences in the hospitality industry: A Job quality index," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 234-246.
    4. Mario Schnalzenberger & Nicole Schneeweis & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer & Martina Zweimüller, 2014. "Job Quality and Employment of Older People in Europe," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 28(2), pages 141-162, June.
    5. Benny M.E. De Waal & Paul Breman & Ronald Batenburg, 2012. "Do individual characteristics matter? The quality of work during the implementation of a workflow management system in a Dutch social insurance company," International Journal of Business Information Systems, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 11(1), pages 1-21.
    6. Charlotte McClelland & David Holman, 2015. "Examining the Quality of Jobs amongst Vulnerable Groups of Workers in Europe," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Ursula Holtgrewe & Vassil Kirov & Monique Ramioul (ed.), Hard Work in New Jobs, chapter 4, pages 49-69, Palgrave Macmillan.
    7. Koen Decancq & María Ana Lugo, 2013. "Weights in Multidimensional Indices of Wellbeing: An Overview," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 7-34, January.
    8. Salvatore Greco & Alessio Ishizaka & Menelaos Tasiou & Gianpiero Torrisi, 2019. "On the Methodological Framework of Composite Indices: A Review of the Issues of Weighting, Aggregation, and Robustness," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(1), pages 61-94, January.
    9. M. Sirgy & David Efraty & Phillip Siegel & Dong-Jin Lee, 2001. "A New Measure of Quality of Work Life (QWL) Based on Need Satisfaction and Spillover Theories," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 241-302, September.
    10. 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.
    11. Ángel Díaz-Chao & Pilar Ficapal-Cusí & Joan Torrent-Sellens, 2016. "Economic Crisis and Job Quality in Spain: A Multi-dimensional and Micro-data Empirical Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 613-633, January.
    12. Tangian, Andranik S., 2005. "A composite indicator of working conditions in the EU-15 for policy monitoring and analytical purposes," WSI Working Papers 135, The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Hans Böckler Foundation.
    13. Brendan Burchell & Kirsten Sehnbruch & Agnieszka Piasna & Nurjk Agloni, 2014. "The quality of employment and decent work: definitions, methodologies, and ongoing debates," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 38(2), pages 459-477.
    14. Jean-Pierre Martel & Gilles Dupuis, 2006. "Quality of Work Life: Theoretical and Methodological Problems, and Presentation of a New Model and Measuring Instrument," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 77(2), pages 333-368, June.
    15. José María Arranz & Carlos García-Serrano & Virginia Hernanz, 2018. "Employment Quality: Are There Differences by Types of Contract?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 203-230, May.
    16. David Moher & Alessandro Liberati & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Douglas G Altman & The PRISMA Group, 2009. "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
    17. Luis Diaz-Serrano & Jose A. Cabral Vieira, 2005. "Low-pay higher pay and job satisfaction within the European Union: empirical evidence from fourteen countries," Economics Department Working Paper Series n1560405, Department of Economics, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
    18. David Efraty & M. Sirgy, 1990. "The effects of quality of working life (QWL) on employee behavioral responses," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 31-47, February.
    19. Claudia Weinkopf, 2014. "Women's Employment in Germany. Robust in Crisis but Vulnerable in Job Quality," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(2), pages 189-214.
    20. Maurizio Carpita & Silvia Golia, 2012. "Measuring the quality of work: the case of the Italian social cooperatives," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 46(6), pages 1659-1685, October.
    21. Giovanna Boccuzzo & Martina Gianecchini, 2015. "Measuring Young Graduates’ Job Quality Through a Composite Indicator," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 453-478, June.
    22. Nádia Simões & Nuno Crespo & José Castro Pinto, 2015. "Determinants of job quality — Evidence for European country groups," Acta Oeconomica, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 65(2), pages 299-323, June.
    23. 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.
    24. Tuula Heiskanen & Esa Jokinen, 2014. "Stability and Change of the Quality of Working Life in Restructuring Municipalities," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 579-599, September.
    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. Vidoli, Francesco & Auteri, Monica, 2022. "Health-care demand and supply at municipal level: A spatial disaggregation approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    2. František Petrovič & Patrik Maturkanič, 2022. "Urban-Rural Dichotomy of Quality of Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    3. Andrea Salustri & Maria Alessandra Antonelli & Angelo Castaldo, 2023. "Uno studio dei sistemi di protezione sociale europei tramite l’analisi delle componenti principali," Public Finance Research Papers 59, Istituto di Economia e Finanza, DSGE, Sapienza University of Rome.

    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. García-Pérez, Carmelo & Prieto-Alaiz, Mercedes & Simón, Hipólito, 2020. "Multidimensional measurement of precarious employment using hedonic weights: Evidence from Spain," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 348-359.
    2. Giovanna Boccuzzo & Licia Maron, 2017. "Proposal of a composite indicator of job quality based on a measure of weighted distances," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(5), pages 2357-2374, September.
    3. Selda TASDEMIR AFSAR, 2014. "Organizational Commitment and Determinants of the Commitment in the context of Changing Working Conditions: Turkey Example," Proceedings of International Academic Conferences 0702100, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    4. Jorge Sinval & M. Joseph Sirgy & Dong-Jin Lee & João Marôco, 2020. "The Quality of Work Life Scale: Validity Evidence from Brazil and Portugal," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(5), pages 1323-1351, November.
    5. Philipp Poppitz, 2019. "Can Subjective Data Improve the Measurement of Inequality? A Multidimensional Index of Economic Inequality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 511-531, December.
    6. Nor Azimah Chew Abdullah & Nazlina Zakaria & Nida Zahoor, 2021. "Developments in Quality of Work-Life Research and Directions for Future Research," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.
    7. 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.
    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. Hovhannisyan,Shoghik & Montalva Talledo,Veronica Sonia & Remick,Tyler & Rodriguez Castelan,Carlos & Stamm,Kersten Kevin, 2022. "Global Job Quality : Evidence from Wage Employment across Developing Countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10134, The World Bank.
    10. Pablo González & Kirsten Sehnbruch & Mauricio Apablaza & Rocío Méndez Pineda & Veronica Arriagada, 2021. "A Multidimensional Approach to Measuring Quality of Employment (QoE) Deprivation in Six Central American Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 107-141, November.
    11. 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.
    12. Constantine Tongo, 2015. "Social Responsibility, Quality of Work Life and Motivation to Contribute in the Nigerian Society," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(2), pages 219-233, January.
    13. Mariateresa Ciommi & Chiara Gigliarano & Francesco M. Chelli & Mauro Gallegati, 2022. "It is the Total that Does [Not] Make the Sum: Nature, Economy and Society in the Equitable and Sustainable Well-Being of the Italian Provinces," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 491-522, June.
    14. 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.
    15. Greco, Salvatore & Ishizaka, Alessio & Tasiou, Menelaos & Torrisi, Gianpiero, 2018. "σ-µ efficiency analysis: A new methodology for evaluating units through composite indices," MPRA Paper 83569, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. 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.
    17. Agnieszka Krugielka & Grazyna Bartkowiak & Sebastian Dama, 2021. "Functioning of Academic Teachers in the Conditions of the COVID-19 Epidemy in Poland in 2020 (Qualitative Test on the Basis of Self-Assessment)," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 5), pages 269-287.
    18. Fusco, Elisa, 2023. "Potential improvements approach in composite indicators construction: The Multi-directional Benefit of the Doubt model," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    19. 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.
    20. Khatab Alqararah, 2023. "Assessing the robustness of composite indicators: the case of the Global Innovation Index," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, December.

    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:spr:soinre:v:157:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-021-02688-6. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.