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Individual determinants of work attendance: evidence on the role of personality

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  • Susi Störmer
  • Ren順ahr

Abstract

We investigate the influence of personality as measured by the Big Five personality scale on absenteeism using the 2005 wave of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). Estimates of a double hurdle negative binomial regression allow us to test hypotheses on the influence of the Big Five personality traits on work attendance. Our findings augment previous results on the link between personality and absenteeism by analysing representative data and including a large set of control variables typically not available in small scale surveys. We find clear negative correlations between the absence probability and Conscientiousness among women. For male employees a negative correlation with the incidence of absence is observed for the Agreeableness dimension. When looking at the length of absence occurrences Neuroticism is found to significantly influence male absenteeism despite controlling for the subjective health of the individual. Following the reasoning by Bowles et al . (2001) for the provision of effort by employees, employers might pay for incentive-enhancing preferences such as low Neuroticism among male employees because employers can only insufficiently monitor the true level of sickness of their employees and consequently want to avoid voluntary absenteeism.

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  • Susi Störmer & Ren順ahr, 2013. "Individual determinants of work attendance: evidence on the role of personality," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(19), pages 2863-2875, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:45:y:2013:i:19:p:2863-2875
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2012.684789
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    2. Egan, Mark & Daly, Michael & Delaney, Liam, 2016. "Adolescent psychological distress, unemployment, and the Great Recession: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 98-105.
    3. Lara Patrício Tavares, 2016. "Who Delays Childbearing? The Associations Between Time to First Birth, Personality Traits and Education," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(4), pages 575-597, October.
    4. Ernesto Dal Bó & Frederico Finan & Martín A. Rossi, 2013. "Strengthening State Capabilities: The Role of Financial Incentives in the Call to Public Service," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(3), pages 1169-1218.
    5. Wendy V. Cunningham & Paula Villaseñor, 2016. "Employer Voices, Employer Demands, and Implications for Public Skills Development Policy Connecting the Labor and Education Sectors," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 31(1), pages 102-134.
    6. Della Giusta, Marina & Jewell, Sarah, 2018. "Working for nothing: personality, time allocation and earnings in the UK," MPRA Paper 91481, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Tim Kautz & Quinn Moore, "undated". "Measuring Self-Regulation Skills in Evaluations of Employment Programs for Low-Income Populations: Challenges and Recommendations," Mathematica Policy Research Reports c3079bb25ca349b6806692391, Mathematica Policy Research.
    8. Deena Schwartz & Karen Gardiner & Kristen Joyce & Sheena McConnell & Correne Saunders, "undated". "Family Development and Self-Sufficiency (FaDSS): Implementation Findings from the Evaluation of Employment Coaching," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 500e1a1c348a4347a99374c8b, Mathematica Policy Research.
    9. Vahé Nafilyan & Stefan Speckesser & Augustin de Coulon, 2020. "The long-term impact of improving non-cognitive skills of adolescents: Evidence from an English remediation programme," CVER Research Papers 028, Centre for Vocational Education Research.
    10. Yulia I. Raynik & Hans-Helmut König & André Hajek, 2020. "Personality Factors and Sick Leave Days. Evidence from a Nationally Representative Longitudinal Study in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-7, February.
    11. Engelhardt, Carina, 2017. "Unemployment and personality: Are conscientiousness and agreeableness related to employability?," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-621, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    12. Vedrana Čikeš & Helga Maškarin Ribarić & Kristina Črnjar, 2018. "The Determinants and Outcomes of Absence Behavior: A Systematic Literature Review," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(8), pages 1-26, July.
    13. Kristen Joyce & Sheena McConnell, "undated". "Employment Coaching: Working with Low-Income Populations to Use Self-Regulation Skills to Achieve Employment Goals," Mathematica Policy Research Reports a21d2c243a764590be0268d8c, Mathematica Policy Research.
    14. Stephanie Prümer & Claus Schnabel, 2019. "Questioning the Stereotype of the “Malingering Bureaucrat”: Absence from Work in the Public and Private Sector in Germany," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(4), pages 570-603, November.
    15. Thomas Leoni & René Böheim, 2018. "Fehlzeitenreport 2018. Krankheits- und unfallbedingte Fehlzeiten in Österreich – Präsentismus und Absentismus," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 61487, April.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions

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