Non-standard work: What's it worth? Comparing alternative measures of workers' marginal willingness to pay

Arbeitspapier

We compare two alternative ways of measuring workers' marginal willingness to pay (MWP) for four non-standard working arrangements: flexitime, part-time, night work, and rotating shifts. The first method is based on job-to-job transitions within a job search framework, while the second is based on estimating the determinants of subjective well-being. Using BHPS panel data from 1991-2008, we relate differences in the results to conceptual differences between utility and subjective wellbeing proposed recently in the happiness literature. We conclude that there is not a single representation of MWP: utility trade-offs (revealed by choices) need not be the same as wellbeing trade-offs; and we find evidence that subjective wellbeing is traded off against other goods that provide utility. Overall, we find that workers care particularly about their number of weekly hours.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: ISER Working Paper Series ; No. 2016-12

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy ; Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: General ; Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions ; Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers: General
• Subject: Willingness to Pay ; Non-standard work ; Job Satisfaction ; Subjective Well-Being ; Job Duration

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Geraci, Andrea ; Bryan, Mark L.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): University of Essex, Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER)
• (where): Colchester
• (when): 2016

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/163538
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET