The international political economy of worker satisfaction: a cross-national HLM analysis

Date01 August 2016
Pages116-143
Published date01 August 2016
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/EBHRM-03-2015-0006
AuthorJonathan H. Westover
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM
The international political
economy of worker satisfaction:
a cross-national HLM analysis
Jonathan H. Westover
Department of Management, Utah Valley University, Orem, Utah, USA
Abstract
Purpose There is a growing body of comparative research examining country differences in
job satisfaction and its determinants. However, existing research cannot explain similarities in job
satisfaction levels across very different countries, nor can it explain the differences between seemingly
similar countries. Moreover, there has been no significant research conducted to date that has
examined the country-level contextual conditions that are poised to impact worker satisfaction and its
determinants. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach In this research, the author address this existing gap in the
academic literature on job satisfaction by using non-panel longitudinal data from the International
Social Survey Program (Work Orientations I, II, and III: 1989, 1997, and 2005) to examine cross-national
differences in job satisfaction and its determinants. The author compare and combine previous
international political economy theoretical work and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to examine
global macro-level variables and their impact on worker satisfaction cross-nationally.
Findings Study results demonstrate that both intrinsic and extrinsic work characteristics strongly
impact worker job satisfaction. Furthermore, country by country regression and HLM results suggest
that there are important country differences in both the perceived importance of various work
characteristicsand workersself-reportexperiences with bothintrinsic and extrinsic work characteristics.
Research limitations/implications To get a clearer picture in the HLM analysis as to the full
impact of these various country-contextual impacts on differences in perceived job characteristics and
worker satisfaction, future research needs to examine a greater number and wider variety of countries,
while exploring other theoretically relevant country-level variables that may help to explore country-
level differences from these various cross-national theoretical frameworks. Additionally, a more
diverse and greater number of participating countries would also potentially help in achieving levels of
significance in the level-2 covariates in the HLM models.
Practical implications Due to the fact the worker job satisfaction impacts firm performance and
various measures of worker well-being, firms (regardless of economic sector or private/public status)
need to be cognizant of these differences and unique challenges and work to tailor management
philosophy and policy to create a unique work atmosphere that will benefit the interests of both the
employer and the employee, as well as society at large.
Originality/value While the nature of work has changed dramatically in the post-war era in
response to economic shifts and an increasingly global economy, particularly over the past two
decades, this paper examines the previously unexamined country-level contextual and global
macro-historical variables driving differences in work quality and perceived worker satisfaction.
Keywords Work engagement and commitment, International human resource management,
Labour economics
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Job satisfaction has long been the subject of research across social science disc iplines
(e.g. Kalleberg and Loscocco, 1983; Hodson, 1985; Hamermesh, 2001; Blau, 1994).
Additionally, many researchers have suggested an increasing importance in the role
that our work plays in our everyday lives, with the landscape of work in the USA and
across the world changing dramatically over the past two decades in respo nse to
Evidence-based HRM: a Global
Forum for Empirical Scholarship
Vol. 4 No. 2, 2016
pp. 116-143
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2049-3983
DOI 10.1108/EBHRM-03-2015-0006
Received 29 March 2015
Revised 20 July 2015
Accepted 6 September 2015
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2049-3983.htm
116
EBHRM
4,2
economic shifts, technological advanc es, and an increasingly global economy
(e.g. Handel, 2005; Jamison et al., 2004).
The vast cross-disciplinary literature exploring work quality and job satisfaction
has linked worker experiences to many individual, organizational, and social outcomes,
yet this research has largely failed to shed much light on why cross-national differences
in worker satisfaction and its determinants persist over time. Furthermore, an often
accepted job satisfaction model, commonly considered to be widely generalizable
across a wide variety of cross-cultural and cross-national contexts, actually appears to
have a lack of applicability across countries. Therefore, the core question driving this
research is as follows: What are the causes behind cross-national differences?
Cross-cultural researchers would suggest that any such differences would all be due to
cultural differences between countries. However, the limited research that explores
work characteristics and job satisfaction from a cross-cultural perspective has largely
failed to show how countries with similar cultural orientations still experience
significant differences and how countries with different cultural orientations still
experience similarities.
The question remains, what are the causes for these country differences. Mo re
specifically, what are the key country-level contextual and global macro variables
driving these country differences in job characteristics and perceived worker
satisfaction (which is of increasing relevance in the age of an ever more globalized
economy and hyper-competitive global marketplace)? Existing research cannot answer
these and other-related questions. Like many work attitudes, job satisfaction is a
dynamic construct that changes in response to personal and environmental conditions.
Monitoring job satisfaction over time and in different contexts allows one to better
examine and understand the salient factors that affect job satisfaction. Therefore,
herein I build upon Handels (2005) theoretical framework and use different global
theories (Neo/Post-Fordism, world systems theory, and statist theories) to examine
the international political economy of job satisfaction, using non-panel longitudinal
data from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) (1989/1997/2005) Work
Orientations modules and variety of country-contextual variables that are relevant to
these perspectives to provide a structural economic and socio-political explanatio n for
cross-national differences in job satisfaction and its indicators, while examining
changing cross-national trends over time.
2. The conceptualization of job satisfaction
Job satisfaction has been conceptualized in different ways. Some have simply regarded
it as the degree to which people like their jobs (Spector, 1997). Others see it as the degree
of fit between the features of a job and workersexpectations (Tutuncu and Kozak,
2007). Job satisfaction is in fact commonly explained using the person-environment fit
paradigm or needs-satisfaction model (Kristof-Brown, 1996; Ellickson, 2002). Rather
than confine the definition of job satisfaction to job features, several researchers see job
satisfaction as a multidimensional attitude of workers toward their jobs and wo rk
places (Clark and Oswald, 1996; Clark, 2010; Davis and Newstrom, 1999; Hamermesh,
2001). Additionally, theorists and researchers alike have often looked at job satisfaction
in terms of non-material (intrinsic) and non-material (extrinsic) rewards (Handel, 2005;
Kalleberg, 1977) and work quality (Green, 2005).
Empirical studies looking at the impact of various antecedents of job satisfaction
tend to be divided into three types: those that link satisfaction with the personal
characteristics of employees, such as gender, and education (Oshagbemi, 2000);
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International
political
economy

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