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Socio-Economic Differences in the Perceived Quality of High and Low-Paid Jobs in Europe

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Author Info
Konstantinos Pouliakas (Centre for European Labour Market Research, University of Aberdeen Business School)
Ioannis Theodossiou (Centre for European Labour Market Research, University of Aberdeen Business School)

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Abstract

This paper engages in a novel comparison of differences in the perceived quality of high and low-paid jobs across six European labour markets. Utilizing data from six waves (1996-2001) of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), and after correcting for the selectivity problem that is prevalent in the study of the effect of low pay status on job satisfaction, it is shown that, other things equal, low-paid employees are significantly less satisfied with their jobs compared to those who are high-paid in Greece, Spain, and Finland. In contrast, there appears to be an insignificant difference in the satisfaction of high and low wage workers in the United Kingdom, France and Denmark. The empirical evidence therefore suggests that low-paid jobs in the EU are not universally of low quality, though in some countries low wage workers have experienced the full brunt of both lower paid and bad quality jobs. For these countries policies that centre on the quality of jobs would be of equal importance to those that focus on the level of pay. A homogeneous policy of removing low wage employment through regulation, however, would not necessarily lead to improvement in the welfare of low-paid citizens across all European economies.

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Paper provided by EconWPA in its series Labor and Demography with number 0506002.

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Length: 43 pages
Date of creation: 06 Jun 2005
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Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpla:0506002

Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 43
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Web page: http://129.3.20.41

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Related research
Keywords: job quality; job satisfaction; low pay; dual labour markets;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets

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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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    Other versions:
  3. Skalli, Ali & Theodossiou, Ioannis & Vasileiou, Efi, 2008. "Jobs as Lancaster goods: Facets of job satisfaction and overall job satisfaction," The Journal of Socio-Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1906-1920, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  6. Easterlin, Richard A, 2001. "Income and Happiness: Towards an Unified Theory," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(473), pages 465-84, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  14. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Paul Frijters, 2004. "How Important is Methodology for the estimates of the determinants of Happiness?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(497), pages 641-659, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Drakopoulos, S. A. & Theodossiou, I., 1997. "Job satisfaction and target earnings," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 693-704, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Kahneman, Daniel & Wakker, Peter P & Sarin, Rakesh, 1997. "Back to Bentham? Explorations of Experienced Utility," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(2), pages 375-405, May.
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    Other versions:
  20. van Praag, Bernard M. S., 1991. "Ordinal and cardinal utility : An integration of the two dimensions of the welfare concept," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1-2), pages 69-89, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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. W.D. McCausland & K. Pouliakas & I. Theodossiou, 2005. "Some are Punished and Some are Rewarded: A Study of the Impact of Performance Pay on Job Satisfaction," Labor and Demography 0505019, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Konstantinos Pouliakas & Ioannis Theodossiou, 2005. "Socio-Economic Differences in the Perceived Quality of High and Low-Paid Jobs in Europe," Labor and Demography 0506002, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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