Title:
The Effects of Individual and Labour Market Characteristics on Job Preferences

Abstract:
The paper examines the extent to which employees vary in the preferences for extrinsic, intrinsic, and social aspects of a job, and whether this variation is systematically related to the institutional structure of the labour market. Furthermore, it examines whether indicators of precariousness on the labour market affect work motivations differently in contexts that vary with regard to income inequality, employment protection and unemployment protection. To this aim the paper uses European Value Study (EVS) data, which has an extensive list of issues that people find important in a job, and data of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on labor market characteristics, for 16 countries over two time periods. Multi-level models are used to test the influence of individual and institutional characteristics on work motivations. The results show that individual characteristics best explain differences in job preferences. Especially the educational level influences preferences. The labour market characteristics have a more modest effect on job preferences. The social job aspects are the aspects that are most affected by the institutional characteristics. The level of income inequality has a negative effect on preferences for the social aspects of a job, the unemployment rate also has a negative effect on these preferences and the replacement rate effects them positively. The job preferences of employees in precarious positions – the lower educated and lower paid employees – are not differently affected by the labour market institutions then those of higher educated and higher paid employees.