Does Job Satisfaction Adapt to Working Conditions? An Empirical Analysis for Rotating Shift Work, Flextime,and Temporary Employment in UK

The hedonic treadmill model for subjective well-being was subject to several recent empirical analyses based on individual panel data. Most of this adaptation literature is concentrated on how life events affect measures of life satisfaction and happiness, whereas adaptation processes of domain satisfactions like job satisfaction are largely unstudied. The aim of this paper is to test empirically adaptation processes of self-reported job satisfaction. For this purpose we consider flexibility characteristics of a job and derive hypotheses about which flexibility measures allow for or impede adaptation processes. Hypotheses are tested using data from up to 18 waves of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). We estimate fixed-effects panel models to test adaptation processes based on intra-individual changes in job satisfaction. Our results show no adaptation to rotating shift work, little adaptation to temporary employment, but full adaptation to flextime regulations.job satisfaction, adaptation, hedonic treadmill model, rotating shift work, temporary employment, flextime, British Household Panel Study, fixed-effects panel estimation

Are Self-Employed Really Happier than Employees?: An Approach Modelling Adaptation and Anticipation Effects to Self-Employment and General Job Changes

Empirical analyses using cross-sectional and panel data found significantly higher levels of job satisfaction for self-employed than for employees. We argue that those estimates in previous studies might be biased by neglecting anticipation and adaptation effects. For testing we specify several models accounting for anticipation and adaptation to self-employment and job changes. Based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Survey (SOEP) we find that becoming self-employed is associated with large negative anticipation effects. In contrast to recent literature we find no specific long term effect of self-employment on job satisfaction. Accounting for anticipation and adaptation to job changes in general, which includes changes between employee jobs, reduces the effect of self-employment on job satisfaction by 70%. When controlling for anticipation and adaptation to job changes, we find no further anticipation effect of self-employment and a weak positive but not significant effect of self-employment on job satisfaction for three years. Thus adaptation wipes out higher satisfaction within the first three years being self-employed. According to our results previous studies at least overestimated possible positive effects of self-employment on job satisfaction.job satisfaction, self-employment, hedonic treadmill model, adaptation, anticipation, fixed-effects panel estimations, German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

Are Self-Employed Really Happier Than Employees? An Approach Modelling Adaptation and Anticipation Effects to Self-Employment and General Job Changes

Empirical analyses using cross-sectional and panel data found significantly higher levels of job satisfaction for self-employed than for employees. We argue that those estimates in previous studies might be biased by neglecting anticipation and adaptation effects. For testing we specify several models accounting for anticipation and adaptation to self-employment and job changes. Based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Survey (SOEP) we find that becoming self-employed is associated with large negative anticipation effects. In contrast to recent literature we find no specific long term effect of self-employment on job satisfaction. Accounting for anticipation and adaptation to job changes in general, which includes changes between employee jobs, reduces the effect of self-employment on job satisfaction by 70%. When controlling for anticipation and adaptation to job changes, we find no further anticipation effect of self-employment and a weak positive but not significant effect of self-employment on job satisfaction for three years. Thus adaptation wipes out higher satisfaction within the first three years being self-employed. According to our results previous studies at least overestimated possible positive effects of self-employment on job satisfaction.job satisfaction, self-employment, hedonic treadmill model, adaptation, anticipation, fixed-effects panel estimations, German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

Arbeitszufriedenheit und flexible Arbeitszeiten – Empirische Analyse mit Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels

This study analyses how different working hours arrangements influence the subjective job satisfaction. The paper contributes to the existing literature dealing with job satisfaction by including information on the flexibility of working hour arrangements and the compensation for working overtime. At first we describe the spread of flexible working hours arrangements over time in Germany. Based on data from the German Socio-economic Panel (SOEP) waves 2005 and 2007 we estimated a fixed-effects model and find a positive effect on job satisfaction of self-determined working hours of full time employees. Considering part time employees we find a clear preference of paid overtime over all other compensation options. Contrary to our expectations there is only little effect of the timing of daily demand on job satisfaction.job satisfaction, flexible working hours, evening and night work, overtime, SOEP

The Timing of Daily Demand for Goods and Services – Multivariate Probit Estimates and Microsimulation Results for an Aged Population with German Time Use Diary Data

Though consumption research provides a broad spectrum of theoretical and empirical founded results, studies based on a daily focus are missing. Knowledge about the individual timing of daily demand for goods and services, opens – beyond a genuine contribution to consumption research – interesting societal and macro economic as well as individual personal and firm perspectives: it is important for an efficient timely coordination of supply and demand in the timing perspective as well as for a targeted economic, social and societal policy for a better support of the every day coordination of life. Last not least, the individual daily public and private living situations will be visible, which are of particular importance for the social togetherness in family and society. Our study contributes to the timing of daily consumption for goods and services with an empirical founded microanalysis on the basis of more than 37.000 individual time use diaries of the nationwide Time Budget Survey of the German Federal Statistical Office 2001/02. We describe the individual timing of daily demand for goods and services for important socio-demographic groups like for women and men, the economic situation with income poverty and daily working hour arrangements. The multivariate microeconometric explanation of the daily demand for goods and services is based on a latent utility maximizing approach over a day. We estimate an eight equation Multivariate/Simultaneous Probit Model, which allows the decision for multiple consumption activities in more than one time period a day. The estimates quantify effects on the timing of daily demand by individual socio-economic variables, which encompasses, personal, household, regional characteristics as well as daily working hour arrangements within a flexible labour market. The question about individual effects of an aged society on the timing of daily demand for goods and services is analyzed with our microsimulation model ServSim and a population forecast for 2020 by the German Federal Statistical Office. Main result: There are significant differences in explaining the timing of daily demand for goods compared to services on the one hand and in particular for different daily time periods. The conclusion: without the timing aspects an important and significant dimension for understanding individual consumption behaviour and their impacts on other individual living conditions would be missing.timing of daily consumption/demand for goods and services, shopping hours, consumption and service activities, German Time Budget Survey 2001/2002, time use diaries, multivariate probit estimation, microsimulation model ServSim

Arbeitszufriedenheit im internationalen Vergleich

The purpose of this paper is to compare the extent and determinants of employees’ job satisfaction on a European level. The underlying data originate from the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 2005 covering 31 European countries. Beside detailed information about type of work and working conditions the data account for personal and household characteristics including objective and subjective income measures. The result from Ordered-probit regressions for all 31 countries as well as separate regressions for five groups of countries (clustered with respect to level of welfare and type of welfare state) indicate a diversified pattern of explanation of job satisfaction. For all analyzed countries except for countries in Scandinavia and continental Europe the employees’ subjective evaluation of income appears to have the strongest effect on job satisfaction. Considering the conflict of working hours with private life, the negative effect on job satisfaction is less distinctive in countries with a lower welfare level. Job security is found to have a stronger impact for UK and Ireland, whereas work autonomy is only found to be among the top ten influences for high level welfare states (UK, Ireland, continental Europe, and Scandinavia).job satisfaction, cross country analysis, working conditions, ordered-probit, European Working Conditions Survey

Arbeitszufriedenheit und flexible Arbeitszeiten: empirische Analyse mit Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels

This study analyses how different working hours arrangements influence the subjective job satisfaction. The paper contributes to the existing literature dealing with job satisfaction by including information on the flexibility of working hours arrangements and the compensation for working overtime. At first we describe the spread of flexible working hours arrangements over time in Germany. Based on data from the German Socio-economic Panel (SOEP) waves 2005 and 2007 we estimate a fixed-effects model and find a positive effect on job satisfaction of self-determined working hours of full time employees. Considering part time employees we find a clear preference of paid overtime over all other compensation options. Contrary to our expectations there is only little effect of the daily timing of working hours on job satisfaction. Ziel dieser Analyse ist die Identifikation von Auswirkungen unterschiedlicher flexibler Arbeitszeitformen und Abgeltungsarten von Überstunden auf die subjektive Arbeitszufriedenheit. Dazu wird zunächst die Verbreitung flexibler Arbeitszeitformen in Deutschland im Zeitverlauf beschrieben. Auf Basis von Daten der Jahre 2005 und 2007 des Soziooekonomischen Panels (SOEP) wird ein Fixed-Effects Panelmodell geschätzt. Es zeigt sich ein positiver Effekt von selbst bestimmten Arbeitszeiten auf die Arbeitszufriedenheit bei Vollzeitbeschäftigten und eine klare Präferenz von bezahlten Überstunden gegenüber allen anderen Abgeltungsarten bei Teilzeitbeschäftigten. Die Lage der Arbeitszeiten spielt hingegen eine untergeordnete Rolle.Arbeitszufriedenheit, flexible Arbeitszeiten, Abend- und Nachtarbeit, Überstunden, SOEP, Fixed-effects

The Timing of Daily Demand for Goods and Services – Multivariate Probit Estimates and Microsimulation Results for an Aged Population with German Time Use Diary Data

Though consumption research provides a broad spectrum of theoretical and empirical founded results, studies based on a daily focus are missing. Knowledge about the individual timing of daily demand for goods and services, opens – beyond a genuine contribution to consumption research – interesting societal and macro economic as well as individual personal and firm perspectives: it is important for an efficient timely coordination of supply and demand in the timing perspective as well as for a targeted economic, social and societal policy for a better support of the every day coordination of life. Last not least, the individual daily public and private living situations will be visible, which are of particular importance for the social togetherness in family and society. Our study contributes to the timing of daily consumption for goods and services with an empirical founded microanalysis on the basis of more than 37.000 individual time use diaries of the nationwide Time Budget Survey of the German Federal Statistical Office 2001/02. We describe the individual timing of daily demand for goods and services for important socio-demographic groups like for women and men, the economic situation with income poverty and daily working hour arrangements. The multivariate microeconometric explanation of the daily demand for goods and services is based on a latent utility maximizing approach over a day. We estimate an eight equation Multivariate/Simultaneous Probit Model, which allows the decision for multiple consumption activities in more than one time period a day. The estimates quantify effects on the timing of daily demand by individual socio-economic variables, which encompasses, personal, household, regional characteristics as well as daily working hour arrangements within a flexible labour market. The question about individual effects of an aged society on the timing of daily demand for goods and services is analyzed with our microsimulation model ServSim and a population forecast for 2020 by the German Federal Statistical Office. Main result: There are significant differences in explaining the timing of daily demand for goods compared to services on the one hand and in particular for different daily time periods. The conclusion: without the timing aspects an important and significant dimension for understanding individual consumption behaviour and their impacts on other individual living conditions would be missing.timing of daily consumption/demand for goods and services, shopping hours, consumption and service activities, German Time Budget Survey 2001/2002, time use diaries, multivariate probit estimation, microsimulation model ServSim

Arbeitszeiten außerhalb der Normalarbeitszeit nehmen weiter zu: eine Analyse zu Arbeitszeitarrangements und Arbeitszufriedenheit

"Die Arbeitszeitpolitik der vergangenen Jahre zielte vielfach auf eine Flexibilisierung der Arbeitszeiten. Ein Grund für diese Flexibilisierungspolitik ist in der Flexibilisierung der Produktmärkte zu sehen. Durch eine Ausweitung der Ladenöffnungszeiten und dem Übergang zum Ausgleich von Nachfrageschwankungen nicht über die Lagerhaltung, sondern über die Produktionsmenge (Bosch 2003) haben flexible Arbeitszeitformen in Deutschland an Bedeutung gewonnen. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird im Folgenden beschrieben, wie sich die Verbreitung von Wochenend-, Abend- und Nachtarbeit seit 1995 in Deutschland entwickelt hat. Zudem wird auf die Nutzung unterschiedlicher Regelungen zum Ausgleich von Überstunden eingegangen. In einer Regressionsanalyse basierend auf Paneldaten wird die Frage untersucht, wie sich unterschiedliche Formen flexibler Arbeitszeiten auf die Arbeitszufriedenheit als Indikator der Qualität der Arbeit aus Sicht der Erwerbstätigen auswirken." (Autorenreferat