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What Is a Good Job?

Author

Listed:
  • Eichhorst, Werner

    (IZA)

  • Wozny, Florian

    (German Aerospace Center DLR)

  • Mähönen, Erno

    (University of Jyväskylä)

Abstract

After the apparent rise of so-called atypical and 'precarious' jobs, the quality of employment has become of interest because such employment relationships are often related to objectively or subjectively worse working conditions. In this paper we look in detail into what is known about job quality, what kinds of effects it has on job satisfaction, and how the quality of jobs has changed in the past by assessing objective and subjective indicators for different educational groups. Results show that a general negative trend in the development of work quality cannot be observed, neither for 'hard' indicators such as the share of temporary employment or unusual working time nor for 'soft' indicators like job satisfaction or perceptions about job security. Developments are rather country-specific, and even within countries differences occur between educational groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Eichhorst, Werner & Wozny, Florian & Mähönen, Erno, 2015. "What Is a Good Job?," IZA Discussion Papers 9461, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9461
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    quality of employment; good jobs; non‐standard work; job satisfaction;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy

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