Macroeconomic Conditions When Young Shape Job Preferences for Life

Maria Cotofan (), Lea Cassar (), Robert Dur and Stephan Meier ()
Additional contact information
Maria Cotofan: King's College London
Stephan Meier: Columbia University

No 13123, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Preferences for monetary and non-monetary job attributes are important for understanding workers' motivation and the organization of work. Little is known, however, about how those job preferences are formed. We study how macroeconomic conditions when young shape workers' job preferences for the rest of their life. Using variation in income-per-capita across US regions and over time since the 1920s, we find that job preferences vary in systematic ways with macroeconomic conditions. Recessions create cohorts of workers who give higher priority to income, whereas booms make cohorts care more about job meaning, for the rest of their life.

Keywords: macroeconomic condition; experience; preferences for job attributes; generational dierence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D9 E7 J2 M5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2020-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hrm and nep-mac
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published - published in: Review of Economics and Statistics, 2023, 105 (2), 467–473

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Journal Article: Macroeconomic Conditions When Young Shape Job Preferences for Life (2023)
Working Paper: Macroeconomic Conditions When Young Shape Job Preferences for Life (2021)
Working Paper: Macroeconomic Conditions When Young Shape Job Preferences for Life (2021)
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