Trends in Job Quality during the Great Recession: a Comparative Approach for the EU / Tendances de la qualité de l'emploi pendant la crise: une approche européenne comparative

Christine Erhel (), Mathilde Guergoat-Larivière (), Janine Leschke () and Andrew Watt
Additional contact information
Christine Erhel: CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEE - Centre d'études de l'emploi - M.E.N.E.S.R. - Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche - Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Santé
Mathilde Guergoat-Larivière: CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEE - Centre d'études de l'emploi - M.E.N.E.S.R. - Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche - Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Santé
Janine Leschke: Department of Business and Politics - Copenhagen Business School - CBS - Copenhagen Business School [Copenhagen]

Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) from HAL

Abstract: This paper focuses on the consequences of the crisis on job quality in Europe. Its aim is twofold: first, to identify trends in job quality in the EU during the 2007-2009 crisis; secondly, to explore the link between these trends and cyclical as well as institutional factors. It relies on European surveys data (European Working Conditions Survey, Labour Force Survey, EU-SILC). A first step of the analysis relies on synthetic indices of job quality developed in previous researches (ETUI Job Quality Index) and compares 2005 and 2010. In average in the EU the aggregate index shows a marginal overall decline in job quality between 2005 and 2010. Improvements are visible with regard to working conditions, working-time and work-life balance. However, involuntary non-standard employment has increased and wages display a pronounced deterioration. Slight declines are also visible in skills and career development and in collective interest representation. At the national level some countries exhibit a more than marginal improvement in overall job quality (Poland, Czech Republic, Belgium and Denmark), whereas others see marked declines in job quality (Ireland and France). A second step builds on dynamic indicators calculated at the individual level. They account for individual transitions in terms of job quality during the trough of the economic downturn (between 2007 and 2009), using EU-SILC panel data. Using multi-level logistic regressions, the paper assesses the contribution of both individual and country-level characteristics (institutions and business-cycle indicators) to a possible deterioration in job quality. It shows that some socio-economic groups are more affected by decreasing trends in job quality (other things being equal), especially youth, older workers and low-educated workers. Women seem less affected by these negative trends than men but are more likely than men to become unemployed or inactive over the period. Cross-country heterogeneity in job quality trends can be related to economic trends (unemployment variation) and, to a minor extent, to the employment distribution by sectors. Some labour market institutions also seem to play a role in explaining the evolution of job quality in times of crisis: employment protection legislation (as defined by the OECD) prevents individual transitions to nonemployment (and has no direct effect on job quality) while public expenditure per unemployed slightly reduces the risk of job quality deterioration.

Keywords: job quality; European comparisons; crisis; labour market transitions; labour market institutions; synthetic index; qualité de l'emploi; comparaisons européennes; transitions sur le marché du travail; institutions du marché du travail; index synthétique (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-03-27
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00966898
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00966898/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Trends in Job Quality during the Great Recession: a Comparative Approach for the EU / Tendances de la qualité de l'emploi pendant la crise: une approche européenne comparative (2014)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00966898

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().