Preferences For Job Characteristics Research Articles

Eliciting primary healthcare physicians’ preferences for job characteristics in rural China: a discrete choice experiment

IntroductionThe outflow and scarcity of physicians in rural areas can adversely affect universal health coverage and population health outcomes, which are critical concerns in China. This study explored primary healthcare...

Understanding Job Transitions and Retirement Expectations Using Stated Preferences for Job Characteristics

As the population ages in the United States and other countries, encouraging older individuals to work would help counter increasing dependency ratios and improve national economic outcomes. Extending working lives is likely not simply a function of improving monetary incentives. Instead, job characteristics are also potentially important, yet understudied, determinants of whether individuals near retirement remain in the labor force. We use previously-collected data on job characteristics and preferences for job characteristics and work at older ages from the 2015 American Working Conditions Survey. We match the 2015 data with new data on job transitions collected three years after the initial survey. We use the matched data to study the relationship between preferences for job characteristics and actual job transitions. We then estimate heterogeneity in preferences for job characteristics as a function of age and plans for retirement. We test whether preferences differ for older workers ages 50 to 61 with different self-perceived probabilities of working in the future. Finally, we test whether preferences differ for retirement-aged individuals ages 62 and older who are working or not working.

Differences in preferences for rural job postings between nursing students and practicing nurses: evidence from a discrete choice experiment in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

BackgroundA discrete choice experiment was conducted to investigate preferences for job characteristics among nursing students and practicing nurses to determine how these groups vary in their respective preferences and to understand whether differing policies may be appropriate for each group.MethodsParticipating students and workers were administered a discrete choice experiment that elicited preferences for attributes of potential job postings. Job attributes included salary, duration of service until promotion to permanent staff, duration of service until qualified for further study and scholarship, housing provision, transportation provision, and performance-based financial rewards. Mixed logit models were fit to the data to estimate stated preferences and willingness to pay for attributes. Finally, an interaction model was fit to formally investigate differences in preferences between nursing students and practicing nurses.ResultsData were collected from 256 nursing students and 249 practicing nurses. For both groups, choice of job posting was strongly influenced by salary and direct promotion to permanent staff. As compared to nursing students, practicing nurses had significantly lower preference for housing allowance and housing provision as well as lower preference for provision of transportation for work and personal use.ConclusionsIn the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, nursing students and practicing nurses demonstrated important differences in their respective preferences for rural job posting attributes. This finding suggests that it may be important to differentiate between recruitment and retention policies when addressing human resources for health challenges in developing countries, such as Laos.

Preferences for working in rural clinics among trainee health professionals in Uganda: a discrete choice experiment

BackgroundHealth facilities require teams of health workers with complementary skills and responsibilities to efficiently provide quality care. In low-income countries, failure to attract and retain health workers in rural areas reduces population access to health services and undermines facility performance, resulting in poor health outcomes. It is important that governments consider health worker preferences in crafting policies to address attraction and retention in underserved areas.MethodsWe investigated preferences for job characteristics among final year medical, nursing, pharmacy, and laboratory students at select universities in Uganda. Participants were administered a cadre-specific discrete choice experiment that elicited preferences for attributes of potential job postings they were likely to pursue after graduation. Job attributes included salary, facility quality, housing, length of commitment, manager support, training tuition, and dual practice opportunities. Mixed logit models were used to estimate stated preferences for these attributes.ResultsData were collected from 246 medical students, 132 nursing students, 50 pharmacy students and 57 laboratory students. For all student-groups, choice of job posting was strongly influenced by salary, facility quality and manager support, relative to other attributes. For medical and laboratory students, tuition support for future training was also important, while pharmacy students valued opportunities for dual practice.ConclusionsIn Uganda, financial and non-financial incentives may be effective in attracting health workers to underserved areas. Our findings contribute to mounting evidence that salary is not the only important factor health workers consider when deciding where to work. Better quality facilities and supportive managers were important to all students. Similarities in preferences for these factors suggest that team-based, facility-level strategies for attracting health workers may be appropriate. Improving facility quality and training managers to be more supportive of facility staff may be particularly cost-effective, as investments are borne once while benefits accrue to a range of health workers at the facility.

Does the Impact of Union Experience on Job Satisfaction Differ by Gender?

The author investigates gender differences in the impact of accumulated union experience on job satisfaction. Because there are fewer women than men in both public and private sector unions, and women are disproportionately underrepresented in union leadership, their collective bargaining power is not equivalent to that of men. As a result, women's preferences for job characteristics and benefits may be overlooked, contributing to reduced job satisfaction as their tenure in the union increases. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) panel data from 1979–2004, the author demonstrates that the accumulation of union experience negatively affects women's job satisfaction more severely than it does men's. This is particularly the case in private sector unions, in which women are more likely to be under-represented in both union membership and leadership positions.

Designing sales force satisfying selling positions: a conjoint measurement approach

To design selling positions that appeal to both new and incumbent salespersons, management needs to understand salespersons' preferences for job characteristics. The study reported here exemplifies an effort to operationalize salespersons' preferences for job and task characteristics that takes account of both career stage and gender. Findings indicate that salespeople in the sample prefer salary-based compensation and that female salespeople prefer sales jobs that are fixed in location.

The economics of gender

The economics of gender

A Longitudinal Investigation of Work Preferences among College Graduates

This study involved 61 respondents surveyed about preferences for job characteristics and benefits at the time of college graduation and after six years of work experience. A number of differences in work preferences were identified. Several demographic variables and career attitudes contributed to explaining preferences at the six-year point in careers. Implications for organizational recruitment and retention strategies are discussed.

Work behavior correlates of interviewer job compatibility

Forced-choice scales were developed to measure the compatibility between worker preferences for job characteristics and actual characteristics of the job for purposes of predicting turnover and performance. The data confirmed the construct and criterion-related validity of the compatibility scores, but also indicated that the relationship between compatibility and voluntary termination was moderated by employee characteristics. Discussion centers on the implications of these findings for future job compatibility scale development and the application of this methodology to work settings where relatively homogeneous subgroups of employees differ with respect to personal and work circumstances.

Employee Preferences For Job Characteristics.

This study investigated worker preferences for different job characteristics. A sample of 65 managers and non-managers provided information concerning their preferences for job variety, autonomy, f...