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Age, Cohort, and the Slump in Job Satisfaction among West German Workers

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  • Hendrik Jürges

Abstract

. Using German panel data, I examine the long‐term development in satisfaction with work from 1984 until 2001. As was the case for many other industrialized countries, Germany witnessed a sharp decline in workers’ self‐reported job satisfaction in the late 1980s and 1990s, the reason of which is yet unknown. I present a cohort analysis of job satisfaction using various identifying assumptions to examine several explanations for this phenomenon: pure cohort effects, a decrease in self‐reported job security, an increase in stress at work and a deterioration in other job conditions, and possible survey artefacts such as interviewer or repeated measurement effects. However, none of these can explain the overall decline in job satisfaction.

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  • Hendrik Jürges, 2003. "Age, Cohort, and the Slump in Job Satisfaction among West German Workers," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 17(4), pages 489-518, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:labour:v:17:y:2003:i:4:p:489-518
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1121-7081.2003.00250.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Francis Green & Nicholas Tsitsianis, 2004. "Can the Changing Nature of Jobs Account for National Trends in Job Satisfaction?," Studies in Economics 0406, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    2. Benno Torgler, 2011. "Work Values in Western and Eastern Europe," Working Papers 2011.94, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    3. Y Georgellis & J G Sessions & N Tsitsianis, 2005. "Self-Employment Longitudinal Dynamics: A Review of the Literature," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 10(2), pages 51-84, September.

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