Wellbeing at Work and the Great Recession: The Effect of Others’ Unemployment

Cristina Borra and Francisco Gómez-García
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Francisco Gómez-García: University of Seville

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2016, vol. 17, issue 5, No 10, 1939-1962

Abstract: Abstract The recent recession has generated a tremendous increase in unemployment rates in Spain. In this paper we use a very rich repeated cross-section dataset on workers’ job conditions, together with regional unemployment rates, to investigate whether peers’ unemployment affects individuals’ job satisfaction. We find that, once perceived job stability is controlled for, peers’ unemployment shows a positive effect on individuals’ wellbeing at work, greater and more precisely estimated for men and private-sector workers. The impact is highly non-linear and the greatest effect is found for unemployment rates exceeding 10 %. Interestingly, the results are robust to controlling for workforce selection.

Keywords: Job satisfaction; Unemployment rate; Relative position; Job insecurity; Spain; Great recession (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E24 I31 J28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Working Paper: Wellbeing at work and the Great Recession: The effect of others' unemployment (2014)
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DOI: 10.1007/s10902-015-9679-8

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