ANALYSIS OF AN INDEX OF INDUSTRIAL MORALE
| Date | 01 March 1974 |
| Published date | 01 March 1974 |
| Author | John H. Pencavel |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1974.tb00003.x |
ANALYSIS
OF
AN INDEX
OF
INDUSTRIAL MORALE
JOHNH.PENCAVEL*
THE
usual procedure in empirical research on the causes and effects of
industrial morale is to adopt one or several indicators of morale (such as
employee turnover or absenteeism) and discover the correlation between
each indicator and other variables taken one at a time. Normally, there
is little attempt to examine movements in the indicators of industrial
morale taken together nor to hold other factors constant in correlating
these morale indicators with other variables. The purpose of this paper
is
to construct an index of industrial morale that incorporates information
on several indicators of industrial morale simultaneously and then to test
certain conjectures concerning the causes and consequences of morale by
statistical techniques that effectively hold other relevant variables constant.
The data describe the British coal mining industry and each obser-
vation pertains to a particular Division (region) in a particular year:
from nationalization until 1963 there are nine Divisions and from 1963
to 1966/67 eight Divisions;‘ and from 1949 to 1963, each observation
relates to the calendar year and thereafter to the financial year (from
April of one year to March of the following year). Thus the inferences in
this study are based upon
a
total of 158 observations (pooled from across
regions and over time). The deep-mined production of coal was selected
for investigation since data are available not only on the levels of factor
inputs and outputs for this industry, but also on four indicators of labour
morale: the absenteeism rate the quit rate
(Y,JY3
the accident rate
*
Stanford University.
The most important consequence of this administrative reorganization was
to
combine
the Northumberland and Durham coalfields into one unit.
Of
less importance was the re-
classification
of
the smaller Cumberland collieries from the Northumberland to the North
Western administrative Division.
a
The absenteeism rate shows the number of nonappearances
as
a fraction of the sum of
nonappearances and appearances. By nonappearances
is
meant the difference between the
aggregate
of
the number of men expected to attend for work on each day of their normal working
week and the aggregate
of
the numbers actually attending. There was
a
slightly different defini-
tion
operative before 1954 and data overlap in 1953 permits the continuation backwards of
this
series to 1949 using the post-1953 definition. Absentees do not include men attending
training classes, trade union meetings, or men who lose
shifts
on account
of
recognized holidays,
disputes
or
other causes
of
stoppages
of
work. For further information
on
absenteeism in British
coal-mining, consult
L.
J.
Handy, ‘Absenteeism and Attendance in the British Coal-Mining
Industry:
An
Examination
of
Post-War Trends’,
British
Journal
of
Zndustd
Relutwns,
Vol. VI,
No.
1,
March 1968, pp. 27-50.
The quit rate measures the ratio of men leaving employment at the
mines
(other than be-
cause of deaths, retirements, medical reasons,
dismissals,
and redundancies) to total employment.
Such separations from employment are described by the National Coal Board
as
‘voluntary
wastage’.
48
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