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Macroeconomic Conditions When Young Shape Job Preferences for Life

Author

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  • Cotofan, Maria

    (King's College London)

  • Cassar, Lea

    (University of Regensburg)

  • Dur, Robert

    (Erasmus University Rotterdam)

  • Meier, Stephan

    (Columbia University)

Abstract

Preferences for monetary and non-monetary job attributes are important for understanding workers' motivation and the organization of work. Little is known, however, about how those job preferences are formed. We study how macroeconomic conditions when young shape workers' job preferences for the rest of their life. Using variation in income-per-capita across US regions and over time since the 1920s, we find that job preferences vary in systematic ways with macroeconomic conditions. Recessions create cohorts of workers who give higher priority to income, whereas booms make cohorts care more about job meaning, for the rest of their life.

Suggested Citation

  • Cotofan, Maria & Cassar, Lea & Dur, Robert & Meier, Stephan, 2020. "Macroeconomic Conditions When Young Shape Job Preferences for Life," IZA Discussion Papers 13123, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13123
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    Cited by:

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    2. Daniel Graeber & Viola Hilbert & Johannes König, 2023. "Inequality of Opportunity in Wealth: Levels, Trends, and Drivers," CEPA Discussion Papers 69, Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
    3. Falco, Chiara & Corbi, Raphael, 2023. "Natural disasters and preferences for the environment: Evidence from the impressionable years," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    4. Jarvis, Stephen, 2022. "How generational are generational trends in in vehicle ownership and use?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113646, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Bičáková, Alena & Cortes, Guido Matias & Mazza, Jacopo, 2023. "Make your own luck: The wage gains from starting college in a bad economy," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    6. Inés Berniell & Leonardo Gasparini & Mariana Marchionni & Mariana Viollaz, 2022. "Lucky Women in Unlucky Cohorts: Gender Differences in the Effects of Initial Labor Market Conditions in Latin America," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0294, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    7. Maria Cotofan & Robert Dur & Stephan Meier, 2022. "Does Growing up in Economic Hard Times Increase Compassion? The Case of Attitudes towards Immigration," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-047/I, Tinbergen Institute.
    8. Maria Cotofan & Robert Dur & Stephan Meier, 2021. "Does growing up in a recession increase compassion? The case of attitudes towards immigration," CEP Discussion Papers dp1757, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. Graeber, Daniel & Hilbert, Viola & König, Johannes, 2023. "Inequality of Opportunity in Wealth: Levels, Trends, and Drivers," IZA Discussion Papers 16488, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Sotirakopoulos, Panagiotis & Mount, Matthew P. & Guven, Cahit & Ulker, Aydogan & Graham, Carol, 2023. "A tale of two life stages: The imprinting effect of macroeconomic contractions on later life entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(4).
    11. Shimon Kogan & Florian H. Schneider & Roberto A. Weber, 2021. "Self-serving biases in beliefs about collective outcomes," ECON - Working Papers 379, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    12. Jan Bietenbeck & Petra Thiemann, 2023. "Revisiting the effect of growing up in a recession on attitudes towards redistribution," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(5), pages 786-794, August.
    13. Stefanie Huber, 2022. "SHE canÕt afford it and HE doesnÕt want it: The gender gap in the COVID-19 consumption response," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-029/II, Tinbergen Institute.
    14. Georgarakos, Dimitris & Popov, Alexander, 2024. "I (don’t) owe you: sovereign default and borrowing behavior," Working Paper Series 2893, European Central Bank.
    15. Nibbering, Didier & Oosterveen, Matthijs & Silva, Pedro Luís, 2022. "Clustered Local Average Treatment Effects: Fields of Study and Academic Student Progress," IZA Discussion Papers 15159, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Berniell, Inés & Gasparini, Leonardo & Marchionni, Mariana & Viollaz, Mariana, 2023. "Lucky women in unlucky cohorts," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    17. McNeil, Andrew & Lee, Neil & Luca, Davide, 2022. "The long shadow of local decline: birthplace economic conditions, political attitudes, and long-term individual economic outcomes in the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113681, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Fazio, Andrea, 2023. "Protests, Long-term Preferences, and Populism. Evidence from 1968 in Europe," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1329, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    19. Hansen, Kerstin F. & Stutzer, Alois, 2021. "Experiencing Booms and Busts in the Welfare State and Support for Redistribution," IZA Discussion Papers 14327, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    macroeconomic condition; experience; preferences for job attributes; generational dierence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D9 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics
    • E7 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macro-Based Behavioral Economics
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • M5 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics

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