Making the Risk of Job Loss a Way of Life: Does it Affect Job Satisfaction?

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between job satisfaction and job security in European countries. In doing so, it attempts to take into account the endogenous nature of the job security – job satisfaction relationship after controlling for the various economic and personal characteristics. The results show that, workers in jobs with low likelihood of job termination derive higher utility from work compared to the workers in insecure jobs. This holds even after controlling for endogeneity by using both a conventional IV approach and a selection model. This appears to be the case for both men and women.