Perceived Health and Earnings: Evidence from the European Working Conditions Survey 2015

This paper aims to analyse the relationship between perceived health and earnings across Europe. Empirical analysis is based on the last published round from the European Working Conditions Survey (N = 43,850) and offers updated evidence on the effect of earnings on perceived health in 35 countries. The main findings show a positive and significant relationship between earnings and health, which is consistent with the existing literature. Moreover, health seems to be U-shaped relative to earnings. On the other hand, age is negatively related to health, which is consistent with previous research. This paper shows the health differences between countries, where cultural, geographic, and economic differences imply health inequalities across countries. From a practical perspective, understanding the dynamics of perceived health and earnings’ processes can contribute to health policy.

‘Dual’ labour market? Patterns of segmentation in European labour markets and the varieties of precariousness

This article aims to empirically explore how European labour markets are segmented and who the outsiders are. The article moves beyond the dichotomous approach to understanding labour market division, often based solely on examining employment relationships. Taking a multi-dimensional approach to defining labour market precariousness, this study incorporates aspects such as income, job prospects and subjective insecurity. Latent Class Analysis is used on data taken from the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey to extend the traditional definition of outsider-ness. Four labour market segments are found: insiders and three different types of outsiders: typical outsiders, dead-end insiders and subjective outsiders. Looking at the cross-national aspect, variations are found in the segmentation patterns, especially in terms of who the outsiders are. The findings show the need to examine various aspects of labour precariousness in order to capture the complexity of post-industrialised labour markets and identify different types of outsiders across Europe that need to be protected for building a more cohesive society.

Gender, Educational Attainment, and Job Quality in Germany, Sweden, and the UK: Evidence from the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey

This research aims to explore the relationships between gender, educational attainment, and job quality, including work autonomy, work intensity, and job satisfaction across Germany, Sweden, and the UK. The European Working Conditions Survey 2015 was used to achieve this research objective. Descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analysis were used to determine how educational level plays an important role in creating gender differences in job quality across three countries. The findings show that receiving postsecondary education can improve work autonomy for both German and Swedish women. However, postsecondary education has different impacts on gender gaps in job quality in these countries. While postsecondary education lowers the gender gap in work autonomy and intensity in Sweden, postsecondary education increases the gender gap in work autonomy and intensity in Germany. Postsecondary education does not significantly decrease gender differences in job satisfaction in Germany or Sweden or any of our job quality measures in the UK. These findings challenge the commonly held belief that higher education has a positive effect on job quality. In fact, gender norms and national institutional factors may also play important roles in this relationship.

Public service-oriented work motives across Europe: A cross-country, multi-level investigation

This article disentangles the country-specific institutional system at the macro level from individual-level attraction and socialization in measuring public service-oriented work motives across European countries through public–private sector comparisons. We argue that country-specific institutions shape the level of public service-oriented work motives of each country and thereby generate level differences across countries. In contrast, public–private sector differences, (i.e. gaps), in public service-oriented work motives within a country reflect aspects of individual-level attraction and socialization. We use the 2005 and 2010 waves of the European Working Conditions Survey and demonstrate that the levels and gaps are empirically distinct phenomena, contrary to current treatment in the literature. We conclude that the distinction between levels and gaps can advance understanding of the antecedents of public service-oriented work motives and support the institutional theory of public service-oriented work motives. Points for practitioners This article argues and provides evidence for the fact that levels of work motives oriented towards public service that are visible in a cross-country comparison should not be confused with the gap of such work motives inside one country. This distinction is important because in countries where gaps between the sectors are almost non-existent and levels are generally high, interventions geared towards public service-oriented work motives are less likely to be effective.

Efectos del trabajo emocional en el agotamiento y la satisfacción laboral de los trabajadores en España

La dimensión emocional es incorporada al estudio de las organizaciones laborales hace más de tres décadas con la investigación pionera de Arlie Hochschild, en la que se analiza el impacto (negativo) del trabajo emocional en la salud y el bienestar de los trabajadores. El emotional labor enfatiza el aspecto relacional en el lugar de trabajo, ya que se basa en el manejo de los sentimientos por parte del trabajador como imperativo en los procesos de interacción con los otros. Esta nueva demanda laboral ejerce un papel importante en el agotamiento y la satisfacción en el trabajo, pero es un campo aún poco explorado. La investigación que presentamos pretende enriquecer esta área de estudio a través de un doble objetivo. Por un lado, operacionalizamos el trabajo emocional como concepto multidimensional, a través de la construcción de un índice de demanda emocional que engloba la interacción, la gestión emocional y las reglas de visualización (Wharton, 2009), y, por otro, analizamos su influencia en la satisfacción laboral y el agotamiento de la población trabajadora en España utilizando como variables de control la autonomía y la intensidad del trabajo. La metodología empleada es de naturaleza cuantitativa y los datos son obtenidos de la European Working Conditions Survey (2015). Los resultados muestran que la demanda emocional influye negativamente en las variables de bienestar.

Accountancy as a Meaningful Work. Main Determinants from a Job Quality and Optimization Algorithm Approach

The primary purpose of the accounting profession is to provide quality information to the market that facilitates the allocation of resources. The context in which it operates must attend to some stressors that can affect the professional’s meaning of the work. Meaningful work (MW) is based on the concept of valuable work and work well done, so it is directly related to the concept of quality at work, which is a constant concern in the accounting profession. The method used to determine meaningful work identifies the set of job quality indexes, as defined by the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), related to the MW. This paper has used an integer programming genetic algorithm (GA) to determine the JQIs and the statistically significant combinations. The findings showed that JQIs, skills development and discretion (SD), and physical environment (PE) positively and intensely relate to MW. Likewise, reduction of the work intensity (WI) and improvement of the social environment (SE) are related in the same direction as the MW. On the other hand, the results showed different indicator weightings depending on the age of the accountants. This paper shows the importance that accountants attribute to professional competence and how, throughout their careers, the JQI that most relate to MW is changing, from a social vision to preferences where the care of personal time also prevails.

Do National Values of Culture and Sustainability Influence Direct Employee PDM Levels and Scope? The Search for a European Answer

The dynamic development of the global economy has led to the creation of agile and innovative organizations that need to adapt rapidly to new challenges. For that reason, organizations need to make decisions that help them face uncertain situations and be successful. Research has demonstrated that employee participative decision making (PDM) promotes more innovative, flexible, and sustainable organizations. The present paper examines organizational, cultural, and sustainable factors to discover how these variables affect PDM in the European context. For this purpose, this study focuses on two main objectives: (1) analyzing the impact of a country’s cultural and institutional values (macro level), beyond individual and organizational characteristics (micro and meso levels), on the adoption of PDM in the European context and (2) differentiating among the types of decisions for which employee participation is considered (operational or organizational). To attain these goals, three hierarchical fitted regression models were fitted using data based on the Sixth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) and complemented with information from Hofstede’s dimensions, whose scores are obtained from 2010 Hofstede database, and institutional values from the 2015 World Competitive Yearbook (WCY). Results demonstrate that some cultural values are significant for PDM and that sustainability is related to employee participation at the general and operational levels. This allows the conclusion that organizations located in countries with greater sustainability awareness are also those that promote employee participation the most.

Measuring Class Hierarchies in Postindustrial Societies: A criterion and construct validation of EGP and ESEC across 31 countries

In social stratification research, the most frequently used social class schema are based on employment relations (EGP and ESEC). These schemes have been propelled to paradigms for research on social mobility and educational inequalities and applied in cross-national research for both genders. Using the European Working Conditions Survey, we examine their criterion and construct validity across 31 countries and for both genders. We investigate whether classes are well-delineated by the theoretically assumed dimensions of employment relations and we assess how several measures of occupational advantage differ across classes. We find broad similarity in the criterion validity of EGP and ESEC across genders and countries as well as satisfactory levels of construct validity. However, the salariat classes are too heterogeneous and their boundaries with the intermediate classes are blurred. To improve the measurement of social class, we propose to differentiate managerial and professional occupations within the lower and higher salariat respectively. We show that implementing these distinctions in ESEC and EGP improves their criterion validity and allows to better identify privileged positions.

La gestión emocional en el trabajo de la población española. Análisis cuantitativo a través de la construcción de un índice de calidad emocional del trabajo y su vinculación con la estructura social

La organización del trabajo, ubicada en el paradigma post-fordista, enfatiza los aspectos emocionales de los procesos de interacción empleado-cliente, como resultado del cambio en la estructura productiva hacia un incremento de las actividades de servicios, donde las relaciones interpersonales son un factor clave. En esta “nueva cultura”, la organización se concibe como un entorno “sintiente” y el trabajo emocional acapara el interés de investigadores y científicos sociales que analizan el papel que desempeñan las emociones en las ocupaciones y en la cultura organizacional (Zapf, 2002, Grandey 2000, 2015; Seymour y Sandiford 2005; Bolton 2000; Wharton, 2009; Totterdell, y Holman, 2003). Las investigaciones relacionadas han sido abordadas en la mayoría de las ocasiones desde estudios de casos cualitativos de trabajadores en el sector de servicios (Steinberg y Figart, 1999), lo que limita la posibilidad de hacer inferencia y dificulta su conexión con la estructura social. El objetivo de nuestra investigación es ampliar este campo de análisis y explorar la vinculación entre gestión emocional y estructura social. La metodología empleada es cuantitativa, hemos construido un Índice de Calidad Emocional en el Trabajo (ICET) que nos posibilite medir la calidad emocional de los trabajadores en España y analizar su vinculación con las variables estructurales clave: clase social, ocupación y género. Para ello hemos empleado los datos de la European Working Conditions Survey (2015). Los resultados muestran que existen diferencias significativas en la gestión emocional del trabajo por ocupación, clase social y género, es decir se comprueba la vinculación entre el ICET y la estructura social.