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The impact of education on job satisfaction in the first job

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  • E. VERHOFSTADT

  • E. OMEY

Abstract

Relying on survey data for Flemish 23 year old workers, we estimate three ordinal regression models to clear out the determinants of job satisfaction in the first job. Special attention goes to the influence of education. The results indicate that higher educated people seem more satisfied than lower educated people because they get a better job. When we control for all characteristics of the job, a negative relationship shows up, with higher educated people being less happy about their first job. Our results also suggest that giving young employees the possibility to use their skills in a varied job contributes strongly to job satisfaction. The relationship between educational mismatch and job satisfaction is ambiguous. Overeducation has a clear negative impact on job satisfaction, but for undereducation we obtain different results for men and women. In contrast to existing literature we also find a gender effect for young workers and a positive impact of working in a large company. We observe no impact of the occupational status of the parents nor of the characteristics of the employment contract.

Suggested Citation

  • E. Verhofstadt & E. Omey, 2003. "The impact of education on job satisfaction in the first job," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 03/169, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    • Handle: RePEc:rug:rugwps:03/169
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    File URL: http://wps-feb.ugent.be/Papers/wp_03_169.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Groot, Wim & Maassen van den Brink, Henriette, 1999. "Job satisfaction and preference drift1," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 363-367, June.
    2. Brown, Donna & McIntosh, Steven, 1998. "If you're happy and you know it...job satisfaction in the low wage service sector," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20249, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew Oswald, 2000. "The Rising Well-Being of the Young," NBER Chapters, in: Youth Employment and Joblessness in Advanced Countries, pages 289-328, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Donna Brown & Steven McIntosh, 2003. "Job satisfaction in the low wage service sector," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(10), pages 1241-1254.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kentaro Asai & Thomas Breda & Audrey Rain & Lucile Romanello & Marc Sangnier, 2020. "Education, skills and skill mismatch. A review and some new evidence based on the PIAAC survey," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-02514746, HAL.
    2. Kampelmann, Stephan & Rycx, François, 2012. "The impact of educational mismatch on firm productivity: Evidence from linked panel data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 918-931.
    3. D. Van den Poel, 2003. "Predicting Mail-Order Repeat Buying. Which Variables Matter?," Review of Business and Economic Literature, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Review of Business and Economic Literature, vol. 0(3), pages 371-404.
    4. Michael J. Handel & Alexandria Valerio & Maria Laura Sánchez Puerta, 2016. "Accounting for Mismatch in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 24906, April.
    5. Vichet Sam, 2018. "Education-job mismatches and their impacts on job satisfaction: An analysis among university graduates in Cambodia," Working Papers hal-01839463, HAL.
    6. Ricardo Pagán-Rodríguez, 2015. "Disability, Training and Job Satisfaction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 865-885, July.
    7. Mariachiara Barzotto, 2024. "Educational (mis)match in the context of new manufacturing: A qualitative comparative analysis study in five European countries," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 2116-2138, April.
    8. Cosima Obst, 2022. "Job Satisfaction and Training Investments," CEPA Discussion Papers 47, Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
    9. Dieter Verhaest & Eddy Omey, 2006. "The Impact of Overeducation and its Measurement," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 77(3), pages 419-448, July.
    10. SAM, Vichet, 2018. "Education-job mismatches and their impacts on job satisfaction: An analysis among university graduates in Cambodia," MPRA Paper 87928, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Jul 2018.

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