Anastasia Semykina

What Makes Workers Happy? Anticipated Rewards and Job Satisfaction

Using data collected from over 9,400 employees in Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Serbia, across a wide variety of workplaces and sectors, we identify the extrinsic and intrinsic rewards that workers desire, and the desirability of rewards they expect to receive. We use regression analysis to evaluate the association between anticipated rewards and job satisfaction, hypothesizing that the desirability of the reward matters more for extrinsic than intrinsic rewards. We find that anticipated extrinsic rewards tend to have a greater influence on job satisfaction if these rewards are important to that particular worker. Anticipated intrinsic rewards appear to be equally beneficial to all workers, regardless of their desirability. Anticipated rewards which have the largest effect on job satisfaction include additional pay, respect of co-workers, and more freedom on the job.

An Empirical Examination of Stakeholder Groups as Monitoring Sources in Corporate Governance

Insurers are formally and informally monitored by a variety of stakeholders, including reinsurers, agents, outside board members, and regulators. While other studies have generally examined these stakeholders separately, they have not accounted for the fact that there is some relation among the stakeholder groups, and the presence of these groups is likely to be jointly determined. By empirically controlling for these potential interrelations, we create a more complete assessment of the impact of these stakeholders/monitors on insurers’ risk taking. Specifically, we find that the presence of some stakeholders offsets the degree or presence of others, and that most stakeholders/monitors are associated with a reduction of overall firm risk.

Job Satisfaction, Expectations, and Gender: Beyond the European Union

Purpose - Do gender differences in expected rewards contribute to gender differences in job satisfaction? Design/methodology/approach - This paper utilizes data collected from over 9,400 employees in five economically and culturally diverse former socialist economies, first, to determine whether there are gender differences in desired and expected rewards, and second, to assess whether the link between job satisfaction and expected reward varies by gender or reward desirability. Findings - This paper finds that for women, job satisfaction is positively linked to both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards, but for men, job satisfaction tends to be positively linked to extrinsic rewards. When reward desirability is included, more often for women than for men, non-monetary rewards are positively linked to job satisfaction regardless of whether they are viewed as desirable. Among men, the link between job satisfaction and a particular reward tends to be stronger if the reward is desired, although for job security this result holds for women as well. While own earnings tend to be positively linked to job satisfaction, comparison earnings are not statistically significant among most groups of respondents. Finally, we find that the magnitude of the estimated partial effect of increasing the expectation of receiving a particular reward tends to be greater for men than for women. Research limitations/implications - By focussing on gender difference results that are common across these five diverse countries, we are able to add information that will prove useful in developing a more global perspective of factors influencing job satisfaction and worker performance. Originality/value - This paper identifies gender differences in desired and expected rewards, both intrinsic and extrinsic, enabling us to more systematically explore gender differences in the link between job satisfaction, expectations, and reward desirability. Because our data come from employees in over 600 workplaces, we are able to control for an extensive number of worker, job, and workplace characteristics, which allows us to investigate in more detail, not only our primary objective – gender differences in the link between job satisfaction and expected rewards – but also several related topics: the proposition that women generally have lower workplace expectations, the link between job satisfaction and comparison earnings, for example.

Analyzing the gender pay gap in transition economies: How much does personality matter?

We estimate the personality-earnings relation in Russia, Armenia and Kazakhstan and examine how much of the gender pay gap can be explained by locus of control (LOC). We use data from an employee survey conducted in 2005 and employ Oaxaca-Blinder-Neumark decomposition. Among Russian and Armenian survey participants, men are more likely to exhibit an internal LOC (attribute success to own actions), and individuals with an internal LOC tend to earn more than individuals who attribute success to fate or other external forces (exhibit an external LOC). In Kazakhstan, gender differences in LOC and the estimated effects of LOC on earnings are small and statistically insignificant. Gender differences in LOC explain 5.5 percent of the gender pay gap in Armenia, 7 percent in Russia, and 2.7 percent in Kazakhstan. Our findings suggest that personality plays an important role in explaining the pay gap.

Job Satisfaction and Perceived Gender Equality in Advanced Promotion Opportunities: An Empirical Investigation

Does gender equality in advanced promotion opportunities in the workplace have consequences for job satisfaction? We use data collected from workers in six formerly socialist economies (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Serbia) to investigate the link between job satisfaction and the perceived chance that a woman would hold a senior‐level position at the firm. Among many survey participants, such a link exists and is positive; that is, these survey participants enjoy working at firms that promote gender balance at the top. The positive link is explained in part by worker personality/attitudes and firm characteristics, and in part by the result that participating workers often enjoy higher job satisfaction because they perceive the lack of ‘glass ceiling’ as a signal of improved own career opportunities. Among women, positive effects are more significant for younger workers. We discuss possible explanations for these findings, as well as cross‐country differences and policy implications.

Perceptions and Behavior: Analyzing Wage Arrears in Russia

We investigate the link between perceptions and behavior using the wage arrears phenomenon in Russia as our case study. To measure perception, we utilize assessments of ???marketability??? ??? what we call perceived demand. For behavior, we first consider the behavior of managers in the allocation of wage arrears, and second, the response by workers to wage arrears. Using Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey data collected between 1994 and 2004 and controlling for regional macroeconomic conditions, firm characteristics and worker characteristics in the probit and Poisson regressions, we find that managers avoid allocating wage arrears to workers with high perceived demand. We argue that this happens because workers with high perceived demand tend to have more employment options and consequently are more likely to quit their jobs. Managers try to retain these workers by reducing their wage arrears. Our empirical results support this argument, as we find that job change is reduced by lowering arrears.

Comparison of health utility weights among elderly patients receiving breast-conserving surgery plus hormonal therapy with or without radiotherapy

Abstract Background: The selection of the most appropriate treatment combinations requires the balancing of benefits and harms of these treatment options as well as the patients’ preferences for the resulting outcomes. Objective: This research aimed at estimating and comparing the utility weights between elderly women with early stage hormone receptor positive (HR+) breast cancer receiving a combination of radiotherapy and hormonal therapy after breast conserving surgery (BCS) and those receiving a combination of BCS and hormonal therapy. Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) linked with Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (MHOS) was used as the data source. Health utility weights were derived from the VR-12 health-related quality of life instrument using a mapping algorithm. Descriptive statistics of the sample were provided. Two sample t-tests were performed to determine potential differences in mean health utility weights between the two groups after propensity score matching. Results: The average age at diagnosis was 72 vs. 76 years for the treated and the untreated groups, respectively. The results showed an inverse relationship between the receipt of radiotherapy and age. Patients who received radiotherapy had, on average, a higher health utility weight (0.70; SD = 0.123) compared with those who did not receive radiotherapy (0.676; SD = 0.130). Only treated patients who had more than two comorbid conditions had significantly higher health utility weights compared with patients who were not treated. Conclusions: The mean health utility weights estimated for the radiotherapy and no radiotherapy groups can be used to inform a comparative cost-effectiveness analysis of the treatment options. However, the results of this study may not be generalizable to those who are outside a managed care plan because MHOS data is collected on managed care beneficiaries.

Job Satisfaction and Advanced Career Opportunities for Women: An Empirical Investigation of Workers in Six Formerly Socialist Economies

Does gender equality in the workplace have consequences for job satisfaction? We use data collected from workers in six formerly socialist economies (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Serbia) to investigate the link between the perceived chance that a woman would hold a senior-level position at the firm and job satisfaction. In several groups of survey participants, such a link exists and is positive. Although part of the effect is due to worker personality/attitudes and firm characteristics, the total effect cannot be explained by these factors. Indeed, our results indicate that workers often enjoy higher job satisfaction because they perceive the lack of glass ceiling as a signal of improved own career opportunities. Moreover, it appears that some survey participants enjoy working at the firms that promote gender balance at the top. Generally, the effects are larger and more often statistically significant among men. We talk about possible explanations for these findings. Cross-country differences and policy implications are also discussed.