Henriette Maassen van den Brink

Job satisfaction of older workers

Using data for The Netherlands, this paper analyzes the relation between allocation, wages and job satisfaction. Five conclusions emerge from the empirical analysis: satisfaction with the job content is the main factor explaining overall job satisfaction; the effects of individual and job characteristics on job satisfaction differ by the aspect of the job considered; the response to a general question on job satisfaction differs from the response to questions on satisfaction with different aspects of the job; it is relevant to consider the joint relation between wages and job satisfaction; and skill mismatches do not seem to affect job satisfaction.

Overeducation in the labor market: A meta-analysis

Abstract This paper contains a meta-analysis of studies on overeducation and undereducation in the labor market. It is found that of the four different definitions of overeducation distinguished in the literature, only the one based on variation in years of education within occupational groups appears to yield significantly lower-than-average rates of overeducation. The average rate of undereducation in the labor market depends on the definition of the undereducation variable. There is no indication that mismatches between education supplied and education required for the job have increased significantly in the past 20 years. The labor force growth rate has a positive effect on the incidence of overeducation, while the unemployment rate has a negative effect on the rate of return to education.

The health effects of education: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND There is an abundance of empirical evidence, mainly from the epidemiological and social science literature, on the relation between education and health. Until now a meta-analysis of the relation between education and health was not available. This article presents a meta-analysis of studies that use self- reported health as an outcome variable to quantify the effect of education on health. METHODS Meta-analysis using a random and a fixed-effects model to quantify the marginal effect of education on self-reported health. RESULTS The results of the meta-analysis show that the quality adjusted life years weight (QALYweight) of a year of education is approximately 0.036. Some tentative calculations suggest that the cost-benefit ratio of investments in education on health is highly positive. CONCLUSION For public policy this implies that a more integrated approach to education and health policies should be taken.

Glass ceilings or dead ends: job promotion of men and women compared

Alternative hypotheses that explain the differences in the rate at which male and female workers are promoted to higher job levels are empirically tested. It is found that women are less frequently in jobs that offer promotion possibilities than men. However, given that women are in jobs that offer promotion opportunities, they are not less likely to be promoted to another job within the firm. That women have jobs that offer promotion less frequently than men is due to differences in treatment rather than differences in characteristics.

Ethnic differences in lifestyle and overweight in The Netherlands

Objective: To study the effects of lifestyle variables and socioeconomic status on overweight among native Dutch and immigrants in The Netherlands.

Collective Labor Supply of Native Dutch and Immigrant Households in the Netherlands

We estimate a collective time allocation model, where Dutch, Surinamese/Antillean and Turkish households behave as if both spouses maximize a household utility function. We assume that paid labor and housework are the endogenous choice variables and furthermore consider household production. Surinamese/Antillean and Turkish women differ from Dutch women because they value (joint) household production more in their utility function. Surinamese/Antillean and Turkish men, on the other hand, value joint household production less then Dutch men. Turkish households are the more traditional households, in the sense that the woman is more oriented on household production, while the man is oriented on paid labor. It is often believed that the bargaining power of women in more traditional households is relatively low, but our estimation results do not support this idea. In general, the wage elasticities of Dutch, Turkish and Surinamese/Antillean households are comparable. Men and women replace housework hours by paid labor if their hourly wage rate increases but do the opposite when the hourly wage rate of the partner increases.

Job satisfaction and preference drift

Most empirical studies do not find that higher wages lead to more job satisfaction. In this paper we argue that the insignificant effect of wages on job satisfaction is due to preference drift. We adapt the standard ordered response model to allow for preference shifts. The empirical results support the hypothesis of preference drift in job satisfaction.

AGE AND EDUCATION DIFFERENCES IN MARRIAGES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON LIFE SATISFACTION

Within marriages husbands typically tend to be older and higher educated than their wife. This paper tries to explain this by analyzing whether age and education differences between spouses have an effect on happiness. Two alternative hypotheses are tested on the relation between age and education gaps between partners and life satisfaction. It is found that a positive age gap between husband and wife increases both male and female life satisfaction, while female life satisfaction increases if the education gap is smaller.

The Value of Health

BackgroundA major problem in cost-effectiveness studies is where to draw the line between interventions which are cost-effective and those who are not. Lacking a notion about the value of a QALY, all ultimate values to the cost-effectiveness ratio are essentially arbitrary.MethodsThis paper presents a simple empirical model to estimate the compensating income variation of diseases and health problems. The model is estimated using data for the Netherlands.ResultsThe compensating income variation is between €20,000 and €90,000. This is higher than most of the ultimate values used by policy-makers to decide whether an intervention is cost-effective. Our figures are roughly similar to those found in studies about the value of a statistical life year.ConclusionEstimates on the compensating income variation of diseases and health problems may provide useful information on the maximum acceptable cost-effectiveness ratio of medical interventions than those currently used by policy makers.

Firm-related training tracks: A random effects ordered probit model

Abstract A random effects ordered response model of training is estimated to analyze the existence of training tracks and time varying coefficients in training frequency. Two waves of a Dutch panel survey of workers are used covering the period 1992–1996. The amount of training received by workers increased during the period 1994–1996 compared to 1992–1994. Evidence is found for the existence of training tracks in the amount of training courses taken. It is further found that the effects of individual characteristics such as education, age and gender on training should be treated as individual varying coefficients.