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Who Cares about Job Security?

Author

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  • Philip S. Morrison

    (Victoria University of Wellington)

Abstract

This paper draws on responses to two job security questions in the World Values Surveys administered in Australia and New Zealand in the 1990s and 2000s in order to identify the degree to which people prioritise and otherwise attach importance to job security. While most people regard job security as an important aspect of any job only about a quarter prioritise ‘a safe job’ above other attributes. In order to identify who cares about job security the two indicators of subjective job security are modelled as a function of people’s education, income, age, and employment status. Not surprisingly, those who care most about job security are those with limited formal education, low incomes, poorer health and older age. However, the degree to which security concerns differ between the most and least vulnerable is relatively small. This reflects the fact that almost all workers are subject to both temporal and spatial variations in labour demand as well as the fact that non-economic factors such as a person’s level of risk aversion can also influence how any given objective measure of job security is appraised subjectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip S. Morrison, 2014. "Who Cares about Job Security?," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 17(2), pages 191-210.
    • Handle: RePEc:ozl:journl:v:17:y:2014:i:2:p:191-210
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francis Green & Andrew Dickerson & Alan Carruth & David Campbell, 2001. "An Analysis of Subjective Views of Job Insecurity," Studies in Economics 0108, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    2. Jeff Borland, 2014. "Recent Unemployment Experience in New Zealand," Treasury Working Paper Series 14/01, New Zealand Treasury.
    3. Francis Green, 2003. "The Rise and Decline of Job Insecurity," Studies in Economics 0305, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    4. Ralph Fevre, 2007. "Employment insecurity and social theory: the power of nightmares," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 21(3), pages 517-535, September.
    5. Valletta, Robert G, 1999. "Declining Job Security," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(4), pages 170-197, October.
    6. Andrew E. Clark, 1998. "Measures of Job Satisfaction: What Makes a Good Job? Evidence from OECD Countries," OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers 34, OECD Publishing.
    7. Philip S. Morrison, 2005. "Unemployment and Urban Labour Markets," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 42(12), pages 2261-2288, November.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Insecure work; Subjective job security; Objective job security;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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