Job satisfaction and co-worker wages
Subtitle: status or signal?
By: by Andrew E. Clark, Nicolai Kristensen, Niels Westergar̄d-Nielsen
Contributors: Kristensen, Nicolai
Series: Discussion paper -- no. 3073; Discussion paper (Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit : Online) -- no. 3073
Publisher: IZA
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Bonn, Germany
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] :
Subjects: Job satisfaction; Wages; Employee motivation
Description: "This paper uses matched employer-employee panel data to show that individual job satisfaction is higher when other workers in the same establishment are better-paid. This runs contrary to a large literature which has found evidence of income comparisons in subjective well-being. We argue that the difference hinges on the nature of the reference group. We here use co-workers. Their wages not only induce jealousy, but also provide a signal about the worker's own future earnings. Our positive estimated coefficient on others' wages shows that this positive future earnings signal outweighs any negative status effect. This phenomenon is stronger for men, and in the private sector"--Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit web site.
Notes: Title from PDF file as viewed on 10/5/2007.

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