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Flexibilisation without Hesitation? Temporary Contracts and Workers’ Satisfaction

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  • Adrian Chadi

    (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the EU, University of Trier)

  • Clemens Hetschko

    (School of Business and Economics, Freie Universitaet Berlin)

Abstract

Fixed-term contracts are often considered a key policy tool for increasing employment. As we show that contract limitation lowers job satisfaction using data from the German Socio- Economic Panel study, we detect a drawback of promoting temporary employment that has not been identified so far. We find that the “honeymoon-hangover” effect of a new job must be taken into account to reveal this result. We examine reasons why employees suffer from temporary contracts and analyse the “Flexicurity” idea of compensating workers with security. Our findings contribute to research on workers’ well-being as well as to the debate on labour market flexibilisation.

Suggested Citation

  • Adrian Chadi & Clemens Hetschko, 2013. "Flexibilisation without Hesitation? Temporary Contracts and Workers’ Satisfaction," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201304, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    • Handle: RePEc:iaa:dpaper:201304
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    Cited by:

    1. Chris Dawson & Michail Veliziotis & Benjamin Hopkins, 2017. "Temporary employment, job satisfaction and subjective well-being," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 38(1), pages 69-98, February.
    2. Gunther Tichy, 2014. "Flexicurity – ein an seiner Umsetzung scheiterndes Konzept," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 87(8), pages 537-553, August.
    3. Eve Caroli & Mathilde Godard, 2016. "Does job insecurity deteriorate health?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(2), pages 131-147, February.
    4. Andreas Knabe & Ronnie Schöb & Joachim Weimann, 2017. "The subjective well-being of workfare participants: insights from a day reconstruction survey," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(13), pages 1311-1325, March.
    5. Clemens Hetschko, 2016. "On the misery of losing self-employment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 461-478, August.
    6. Eve Caroli & Mathilde Godard, 2013. "Does Job Insecurity Deteriorate Health ? A Causal Approach for Europe," Working Papers 2013-13, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    7. María C. Sánchez-Sellero & Pedro Sánchez-Sellero & María M. Cruz-González & Francisco J. Sánchez-Sellero, . "Stability and Satisfaction at Work During the Spanish Economic Crisis," Prague Economic Papers, University of Economics, Prague, vol. 0, pages 1-18.
    8. Henna Busk & Christine Dauth & Elke J. Jahn, 2017. "Do Changes in Regulation Affect Temporary Agency Workers’ Job Satisfaction?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 514-544, July.
    9. Hielke Buddelmeyer & Duncan McVicar & Mark Wooden, 2015. "Non-Standard “Contingent” Employment and Job Satisfaction: A Panel Data Analysis," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 256-275, April.
    10. repec:dau:papers:123456789/13646 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Auer, Wolfgang, 2015. "Health Consequences of Starting a Career on a Fixed-Term Contract," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113080, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    12. Francesco Bartolucci & Aleksandra Baschina & Giovanni S. F. Bruno & Olga Demidova & Marcello Signorelli, 2015. "Determinants of Job Satisfaction in Young Russian Workers," Discussion Papers 7_2015, CRISEI, University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy.
    13. Adrian Chadi & Clemens Hetschko, 2021. "How Job Changes Affect People's Lives — Evidence from Subjective Well‐Being Data," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 279-306, June.
    14. María Carmen Sánchez-Sellero & Pedro Sánchez-Sellero & María Montserrat Cruz-González & Francisco Javier Sánchez-Sellero, 2017. "Stability and Satisfaction at Work During the Spanish Economic Crisis," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2017(1), pages 72-89.
    15. Lucia Aiello & Giuseppe Espa & Mauro Gatti & Andrea Mazzitelli, 2015. "The propensity to employ high skilled employees. An empirical analysis on Manager and Intellectual Professions," DEM Discussion Papers 2015/11, Department of Economics and Management.
    16. Wolfgang Auer & Natalia Danzer, 2015. "Uncertainty in the labour market: How does fixed-term employment affect fertility and mental health of the young generation?," IBS Working Papers 6/2015, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    17. Ronnie Schöb, 2021. "Labor market policies, unemployment, and identity," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 270-270, November.
    18. Lücke, Christine, 2017. "How much does others’ protection matter? Employment protection and well-being," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168096, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    19. Wolfgang Auer, 2018. "Empirical Essays on the Socioeconomic Consequences of Economic Uncertainty," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 79.
    20. Petilliot, René, 2016. "How important is the type of working contract for job satisfaction of agency workers?," FZG Discussion Papers 61, University of Freiburg, Research Center for Generational Contracts (FZG).
    21. René Petilliot, 2016. "How Important is the Type of Working Contract for Job Satisfaction of Agency Workers?," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 832, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    labour market flexibilisation; job satisfaction; temporary contracts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts

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