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Reported Job Satisfaction : What Does It Mean?

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Author Info
LEVY-GARBOUA, Louis
MONTMARQUETTE, Claude

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Abstract

By reporting his satisfaction with his job or any other experience, an individual does not communicate the number of utils that he feels. Instead, he expresses his posterior preference over available alternatives conditional on acquired knowledge of the past. This new interpretation of reported job satisfaction restores the power of microeconomic theory without denying the essential role of discrepancies between one’s situation and available opportunities. Posterior human wealth discrepancies are found to be the best predictor of reported job satisfaction. Static models of relative utility and other subjective well-being assumptions are all unambiguously rejected by the data, as well as an "economic" model in which job satisfaction is a measure of posterior human wealth. The "posterior choice" model readily explains why so many people usually report themselves as happy or satisfied, why both younger and older age groups are insensitive to current earning discrepancies, and why the past weighs more heavily than the present and the future.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/1866/442
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Universite de Montreal, Departement de sciences economiques in its series Cahiers de recherche with number 9705.

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Length: 23 pages
Date of creation: 1997
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:mtl:montde:9705

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Related research
Keywords: job satisfaction; relative utility models; sterior choice model;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

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  4. Easterlin, Richard A., 1995. "Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 35-47, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Oswald, Andrew, 1997. "Happiness and Economic Performance," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 478, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Levy-Garboua, L. & Montmarquette, C., 1996. "Cognition in Seemingly Riskless Choices and Judgments," Cahiers de recherche 9602, Universite de Montreal, Departement de sciences economiques. [Downloadable!]
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  7. Freeman, Richard B, 1978. "Job Satisfaction as an Economic Variable," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 68(2), pages 135-41, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Gilad, Benjamin & Kaish, Stanley & Loeb, Peter D., 1987. "Cognitive dissonance and utility maximization : A general framework," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 61-73, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Loomes, Graham & Sugden, Robert, 1986. "Disappointment and Dynamic Consistency in Choice under Uncertainty," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 53(2), pages 271-82, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Francis Green & Nicholas Tsitsianis, 2004. "Can the Changing Nature of Jobs Account for National Trends in Job Satisfaction?," Studies in Economics 0406, Department of Economics, University of Kent. [Downloadable!]
  2. Haile, Getinet Astatike, 2009. "Workplace Job Satisfaction in Britain: Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data," IZA Discussion Papers 4101, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  3. Saziye Gazioglu & Aysit Tansel, 2003. "Job Satisfaction in Britain: Individual and Job Related Factors," ERC Working Papers 0303, ERC - Economic Research Center, Middle East Technical University, revised Apr 2003. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Steve Bradley & Jim Taylor & Anh Ngoc Nguyen, 2003. "Job autonomy and job satisfaction: new evidence," Working Papers 000192, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department. [Downloadable!]
  5. Claudia Keser & Claude Montmarquette, 2002. "Voluntary Contributions to Reduce Expected Public Losses," CIRANO Working Papers 2002s-60, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Hamermesh, Daniel S., 1999. "The Changing Distribution of Job Satisfaction," IZA Discussion Papers 42, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Heather Antecol & Deborah Cobb-Clark, 2005. "Racial Harassment, Job Satisfaction and Intentions to Remain in the Military," IZA Discussion Papers 1636, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2004. "Subjective Outcomes in Economics," NBER Working Papers 10361, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Nguyen, Anh & Taylor, Jim & Bradley, Steve, 2003. "Relative pay and job satisfaction: some new evidence," MPRA Paper 1382, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Louis Lévy-Garboua & David Masclet & Claude Montmarquette, 2006. "A Micro-foundation for the Laffer Curve In a Real Effort Experiment," CIRANO Working Papers 2006s-03, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Pérez Truglia, Ricardo Nicolás, 2007. "Can a rise in income inequality improve welfare?," MPRA Paper 4700, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 22 Dec 2007. [Downloadable!]
  12. repec:ese:iserwp: is not listed on IDEAS
  13. Louis Lévy-Garboua & Claude Montmarquette, 1996. "Cognition in Seemingly Riskless Choices and Judgments," CIRANO Working Papers 96s-01, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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