IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v178y2025i1d10.1007_s11205-025-03530-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Relative Measure of Economic Insecurity and the Nexus with Job Change

Author

Listed:
  • Alessandro Gallo

    (University of Bologna)

  • Silvia Pacei

    (University of Bologna)

  • Maria Rosaria Ferrante

    (University of Bologna)

Abstract

Economic insecurity is attracting growing attention in the social well-being literature. However, there is still debate about its definition and measurement which deserve further and in depth study. Assuming that economic insecurity relates to the forward-looking perception of future outcomes based on past experience, we suggest a class of relative indices measuring the individual feeling of economic insecurity by considering relative past resource fluctuations. The innovation we implement in this context consists in considering relative changes, supposing that individuals evaluate each fluctuation based on their previous resource level. We take advantage of the measures suggested to study how economic insecurity may affect job mobility. Obtained results show that economic insecurity has a significant impact on the probability of changing jobs, and that its effect differs by gender and working experience.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandro Gallo & Silvia Pacei & Maria Rosaria Ferrante, 2025. "A Relative Measure of Economic Insecurity and the Nexus with Job Change," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 178(1), pages 91-116, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:178:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-025-03530-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-025-03530-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-025-03530-z
    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/s11205-025-03530-z?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D’Ambrosio & Anthony Lepinteur, 2023. "Marriage as insurance: job protection and job insecurity in France," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1157-1190, December.
    2. Barry Watson & Stephen Law & Lars Osberg, 2022. "Are Populists Insecure About Themselves or About Their Country? Political Attitudes and Economic Perceptions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 667-705, January.
    3. Jacob S. Hacker & Gregory A. Huber & Austin Nichols & Philipp Rehm & Mark Schlesinger & Rob Valletta & Stuart Craig, 2014. "The Economic Security Index: A New Measure for Research and Policy Analysis," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(S1), pages 5-32, May.
    4. Andrew E. Clark & Anthony Lepinteur, 2022. "A Natural Experiment on Job Insecurity and Fertility in France," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(2), pages 386-398, May.
    5. Walter Bossert & Andrew E Clark & Conchita D’Ambrosio & Anthony Lepinteur, 2023. "Economic insecurity and political preferences," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 75(3), pages 802-825.
    6. D'Ambrosio, Conchita & Clark, Andrew E. & Barazzetta, Marta, 2018. "Unfairness at work: Well-being and quits," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 307-316.
    7. Ulf Rinne & Klaus F Zimmermann, 2013. "Is Germany the North Star of Labor Market Policy?," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 61(4), pages 702-729, December.
    8. repec:bla:revinw:v:60:y:2014:i::p:s53-s76 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Walter Bossert & Conchita D'Ambrosio, 2013. "Measuring Economic Insecurity," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 54, pages 1017-1030, August.
    10. Amos Tversky & Daniel Kahneman, 1991. "Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference-Dependent Model," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 1039-1061.
    11. Brown, Charles & Medoff, James, 1989. "The Employer Size-Wage Effect," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1027-1059, October.
    12. Caggiano, Giovanni & Castelnuovo, Efrem & Kima, Richard, 2020. "The global effects of Covid-19-induced uncertainty," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    13. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    14. Alexander Spermann, 2015. "How to fight long-term unemployment: lessons from Germany," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-15, December.
    15. Gary Chamberlain, 1980. "Analysis of Covariance with Qualitative Data," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 47(1), pages 225-238.
    16. Thomas Buser & Muriel Niederle & Hessel Oosterbeek, 2014. "Gender, Competitiveness, and Career Choices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(3), pages 1409-1447.
    17. Andrew E. Clark & Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields, 2008. "Relative Income, Happiness, and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 95-144, March.
    18. McBride, Michael, 2001. "Relative-income effects on subjective well-being in the cross-section," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 251-278, July.
    19. Lorenzo Caliendo & Fernando Parro & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg & Pierre-Daniel Sarte, 2018. "The Impact of Regional and Sectoral Productivity Changes on the U.S. Economy," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 85(4), pages 2042-2096.
    20. Mr. Tom Krebs & Mr. Martin Scheffel, 2013. "Macroeconomic Evaluation of Labor Market Reform in Germany," IMF Working Papers 2013/042, International Monetary Fund.
    21. repec:bla:revinw:v:60:y:2014:i::p:s159-s176 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Alessio Rebechi & Nicholas Rohde, 2023. "Economic insecurity, racial anxiety, and right‐wing populism," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 69(3), pages 701-724, September.
    23. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2020_011 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. John Gibson & Steven Stillman, 2009. "Why Do Big Firms Pay Higher Wages? Evidence from an International Database," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(1), pages 213-218, February.
    25. Böckerman, Petri & Ilmakunnas, Pekka & Johansson, Edvard, 2011. "Job security and employee well-being: Evidence from matched survey and register data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 547-554, August.
    26. Nicholas Rohde & Conchita D’Ambrosio & Barry Watson, 2022. "Empirical Methods for Modelling Economic Insecurity," Springer Books, in: Duangkamon Chotikapanich & Alicia N. Rambaldi & Nicholas Rohde (ed.), Advances in Economic Measurement, chapter 0, pages 265-306, Springer.
    27. Costanzo Ranci & Jason Beckfield & Laura Bernardi & Andrea Parma, 2021. "New Measures of Economic Insecurity Reveal its Expansion Into EU Middle Classes and Welfare States," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 539-562, December.
    28. Robert H. Topel & Michael P. Ward, 1992. "Job Mobility and the Careers of Young Men," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(2), pages 439-479.
    29. Tom Krebs & Martin Scheffel, 2013. "Macroeconomic Evaluation of Labor Market Reform in Germany," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 61(4), pages 664-701, December.
    30. Nicholas Rohde & Kam Ki Tang & Lars Osberg & D.S. Prasada Rao, 2015. "Economic Insecurity in Australia: Who is Feeling the Pinch and How?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 91(292), pages 1-15, March.
    31. Lars Osberg & Andrew Sharpe, 2014. "Measuring Economic Insecurity in Rich and Poor Nations," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(S1), pages 53-76, May.
    32. Origo, Federica & Pagani, Laura, 2009. "Flexicurity and job satisfaction in Europe: The importance of perceived and actual job stability for well-being at work," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 547-555, October.
    33. Lidia Ceriani & Chiara Gigliarano, 2015. "An Inter-temporal Relative Deprivation Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 427-443, November.
    34. Walter Bossert & Conchita D'Ambrosio, 2013. "Measuring Economic Insecurity," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 54(3), pages 1017-1030, August.
    35. repec:bla:revinw:v:60:y:2014:i::p:s5-s32 is not listed on IDEAS
    36. Nicholas Rohde & Kam Ki Tang & D.S. Prasada Rao, 2014. "Distributional Characteristics of Income Insecurity in the U.S., Germany, and Britain," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(S1), pages 159-176, May.
    37. Caggiano, Giovanni & Castelnuovo, Efrem & Kima, Richard, 2020. "The global effects of Covid-19-induced uncertainty," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    38. Tom Krebs & Martin Scheffel, 2013. "Macroeconomic Evaluation of Labor Market Reform in Germany," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 61(4), pages 664-701, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Alessandro Gallo & Silvia Pacei & Maria Rosaria Ferrante, 2024. "A Composite Inter-Temporal Economic Insecurity Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 175(2), pages 517-543, November.
    2. Cantó, Olga & García-Pérez, Carmelo & Romaguera-de-la-Cruz, Marina, 2020. "The dimension, nature and distribution of economic insecurity in European countries: A multidimensional approach," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 44(3).
    3. Conchita D’Ambrosio & Andrew E. Clark & Rémi Yin, 2023. "Economic Insecurity and Health," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 247(4), pages 69-89, December.
    4. Dmitry Petrov & Marina Romaguera-de-la-Cruz, 2023. "Measuring economic insecurity with a joint income-wealth approach," Working Papers 637, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    5. Joaquín Prieto, 2021. "A multidimensional approach to measuring economic insecurity: The case of Chile," Working Papers 591, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    6. Joaquín Prieto, 2022. "A Multidimensional Approach to Measuring Economic Insecurity: The Case of Chile," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 823-855, September.
    7. Prieto Suarez, Joaquin, 2022. "A multidimensional approach to measuring economic insecurity: the case of Chile," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114623, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Prieto, Joaquin, 2021. "A multidimensional approach to measuring economic insecurity: the case of Chile," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112490, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Dmitry Petrov & Marina Romaguera-de-la-Cruz, 2025. "Measuring economic insecurity by combining income and wealth: an extended well-being approach," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 113-139, March.
    10. Staudigel, Matthias, 2015. "A soft pillow for hard times: Effects of economic insecurity on body weight in transitional Russia," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205189, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Olga Cantó & Carmelo García-Pérez & Marina Romaguera de la Cruz, 2021. "Multidimensional Measures of Economic Insecurity in Spain: The Role of Aggregation and Weighting Methods," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 238(3), pages 29-60, September.
    12. Rohde, Nicholas & Tang, K.K. & Osberg, Lars & Rao, Prasada, 2016. "The effect of economic insecurity on mental health: Recent evidence from Australian panel data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 250-258.
    13. Maite Blázquez & Ana I. Moro Egido, 2020. "Financial insecurity and subjective well-being. Europe in crossnational perspective," ThE Papers 20/07, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
    14. Rohde, Nicholas, 2023. "Economic insecurity, nativism, and the erosion of institutional trust," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1017-1028.
    15. Costanzo Ranci & Jason Beckfield & Laura Bernardi & Andrea Parma, 2021. "New Measures of Economic Insecurity Reveal its Expansion Into EU Middle Classes and Welfare States," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 539-562, December.
    16. Olga Cantó & Carmelo García Pérez & Marina Romaguera de la Cruz, 2023. "The Role of Tax-Benefit Systems in Shaping Economic Insecurity in the European Union," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 247(4), pages 7-36, December.
    17. Marek Kośny & Maria Piotrowska, 2019. "Assessment of Economic Security of Households Based on a Scenario Analysis," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-20, August.
    18. Staudigel, Matthias, 2016. "A soft pillow for hard times? Economic insecurity, food intake and body weight in Russia," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 198-212.
    19. Alessandro Belmonte & Harry Pickard, 2024. "Safe at Last? Late Effects of a Mass Immunization Campaign on Households' Economic Insecurity," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 70(2), pages 466-497, June.
    20. Marina Romaguera de la Cruz, 2017. "Economic insecurity in Spain: A multidimensional analysis," Working Papers 448, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs

    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:spr:soinre:v:178:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-025-03530-z. 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.