Satisfaction and comparison income

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Clark, AE; Oswald, AJ
• 署名单位: Universite PSL; Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS); Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); University of London; London School Economics & Political Science
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/0047-2727(95)01564-7
• 发表日期: 1996
• 页码: 359-381
• 关键词: job satisfaction; relative utility; comparison income; education; empirical estimation

摘要

This paper attempts to test the hypothesis that utility depends on income relative to a 'comparison' or reference level. Using data on 5,000 British workers, it provides two findings. First, workers' reported satisfaction levels are shown to be inversely related to their comparison wage rates. Second, holding income constant, satisfaction levels are shown to be strongly declining in the level of education. More generally, the paper tries to help begin the task of constructing an economics of job satisfaction.