Quality Of Employment Survey Research Articles

Domestic Work, Family Characteristics, and Earnings: Reexamining Gender and Class Differences

Using the 1996 Indiana Quality of Employment Survey, we reexamine gender and class differences in the effects of domestic work and family characteristics on earnings. We expand upon Coverman's (1983) original model by including several new measures. We find that the gender gap in domestic work has narrowed considerably, not because men are doing more but because women are doing less than they were twenty years ago. Women's earnings suffer more than men's from time spent on domestic work and generally benefit more from partners' domestic help. Women's earnings are more advantaged than men's by having preschool children, and men's earnings are more advantaged when their partner works. We find significant class differences in the effects of domestic work between working-class and non-working class women and in the effects of family characteristics between working-class and non-working class men. Non-working class women's earnings suffer more from time they put into domestic work, but their earnings generally benefit more from partners' or outside domestic help. Working-class men's earnings are more advantaged by having school-age children and more disadvantaged by having progressive gender ideologies. Non-working class men's earnings benefit more when their partners hold a job but suffer more as their partners work more hours.

Culture Wars in the Workplace?

This article revisits Hunter’s (1991) culture wars thesis and applies it to an institutional arena that has received comparatively little attention in the culture wars debate—the contemporary American workplace. The authors ask to what extent cultural divisions originating in four broad cultural domains (i.e., social equality, social freedom, multiculturalism, and gender equity) permeate the workplace and impact workers’views of the property rights of jobs. That is, do cultural values originating in the larger society affect workers’evaluations of managerial prerogative to make unilateral decisions in the best interests of the firm without regard to workers’ claims to their jobs? Or, conversely, do such cultural values shape workers’sense of job entitlement that jobs should be protected in times of changing technology, declining demand for a firm’s product, or other organizational and market imperatives? The authors use data from the Indiana Quality of Employment Survey to examine several hypotheses surrounding this debate. The results suggest that the relationship between cultural values and specific, work-based ideologies are more complicated than Hunter’s original formulation might suggest; that is, there are complex and nonobvious relationships between these four domains of American cultural life and workers’ views concerning job entitlement. These relationships are not significantly mediated by organizational and occupational characteristics normally associated with workplace attitudes. The results speak to broader debates about the role of structure and culture in the sociology of work and the complexity of the ideological landscape of American working life.

Trends in Direct Measures of Job Skill Requirements

It is commonly assumed that jobs in the United States require ever greater levels of skill and, more strongly, that this trend is accelerating as a result of the diffusion of information technology. This has led to substantial concern over the possibility of a growing mismatch between the skills workers possess and the skills employers demand, reflected in debates over the need for education reform and the causes of the growth in earnings inequality. However, efforts to measure trends have been hampered by the lack of direct measures of job skill requirements. This paper uses previously unexamined measures from the Quality of Employment Surveys and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine trends in job education and training requirements and provide a validation tool for skill measures in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, whose quality has long been subject to question. Results indicate that job skill requirements have increased steadily over the 1970s-1990s but that there has been no acceleration in recent years that might explain the growth in earnings inequality. There is also no dramatic change in the number of workers who are undereducated. These results reinforce the conclusions of earlier work that reports of a growing skills mismatch are likely overdrawn.

Job Characteristics and the Form of Compensation

In this paper we introduce a way to systematically organize the choice between different forms of compensation based upon observable job characteristics. Secondly, we explore the determinants of compensation based upon questionnaire responses concerning job characteristics and methods of pay contained in the Quality of Employment Survey (QES), the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), and the Current Population Survey. The main conclusion is that there is no single model of the employment relationship that can explain the variation in compensation form. We draw upon both agency and incomplete contract models to study the interplay between job characteristics and compensation. Specific results include a) the number of tasks seems to be associated with the use of incomplete contracts; b) jobs with high power incentives (piece or commission rates) tend to be associated with more worker autonomy and fewer tasks performed than hourly paid or salary jobs; c) tight labor market conditions tend to be associated with increased use of bonuses and promotions.

Alcohol abuse and job hazards

Do hazardous working conditions encourage heavy drinking and/or does heavy drinking contribute to job-related injuries and deaths? Simultaneous equations probit and least squares models are constructed to answer these questions. Samples of employed persons are drawn from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey II (NHANES II; n = 8,477), and the Quality of Employment Survey (QES; n = 1,393). Heavy total alcohol use is alternatively defined as drinking any alcoholic beverage at least once a day, or frequently drinking three or more drinks at a time. In the QES, heavy use is also defined as drinking on-the-job. Heavy beer, wine, or liquor use is separately defined in the NHANES II as drinking four or more times per week. The endogenous variables reflecting job hazards include subjects' evaluations of the hazardous nature of the job and fatality rates within occupations and industries. Exogenous variables include age, gender, race, marital status, wages or family income, rural residence, Southern residence, years of schooling, union membership, percent of industry unionized, minimum legal drinking age for beer, religion variables, smoking status, and beer tax. Only one robust alcohol finding emerged: Heavy beer use was found to be strongly correlated with the fatality rates within occupations and industries. In a related finding, a disproportionately high number of smokers were found employed in dangerous jobs. Separate analyses of beer, wine, and liquor (spirits) appeared essential to explaining correlations between dangerous jobs and heavy alcohol use. Evidence for a simultaneous relationship between beer abuse and job-related deaths suggests that prior estimates of the effect of alcohol abuse on job-related accidental deaths have been exaggerated.

DANGEROUS JOBS AND HEAVY ALCOHOL USE IN TWO NATIONAL PROBABILITY SAMPLES

Samples of employed persons within the US were drawn from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey II (n = 8477), and the Quality of Employment Survey (n = 1393) to test the hypothesis that a positive association existed between alcohol use and job hazards. Heavy total alcohol use, or beer or wine or liquor use separately, were the dependent variables. The key independent variables included subjects' evaluations of hazardous nature of the job and fatality rates within occupations and industries. Models were estimated with logistic regressions controlling for age, gender, race and other covariates. Only one robust finding emerged: heavy beer use was found to be positively and strongly correlated with the fatality rate within occupations. Additional correlations between job hazards and heavy alcohol use were weak, generated large P values, and some suggested an inverse association. The lack of robust findings for the additional correlations may partially be explained by the associations between job categories on the one hand and choice of beverage on the other. Blue-collar jobs are more hazardous than white-collar jobs, on average. Persons in blue-collar jobs were more likely to drink beer, while those in white-collar jobs were more likely to drink wine or liquor (spirits). Separate analyses of beer, wine and liquor appeared essential to explaining correlations between dangerous jobs and heavy alcohol use in these data. Limitations of the study included (1) age of the data (from the 1970s). (2) alcohol use and some job hazards were measured by self-report, and (3) data were from only one country.

Work Careers and Organizational Careers

The tendencies for older workers and more senior workers to exhibit lower rates of job mobility than their counterparts who are, respectively, younger and less senior, have a long history in labor market research. Yet little attention has been given to the distinct career processes underlying these observed patterns. Drawing on perspectives from life-course and organizational sociology, the author argues that age and tenure are markers of the temporal structures, or timetables, that underlie individual and organizational work careers. These timetables provide incentives for maintaining the employment relationship by allocating organizational rewards over time or by defining normative points of entry into and exit from the labor force. They also intersect as workers initiate new organizational careers at different ages. This “loose-coupling” between individual and organizational career patterns and its effects on job mobility can be represented empirically by the interaction between age and tenure. Using data from the 1977 Quality of Employment Survey, the author shows that short- and long-term seniority consistently strengthen attachment among older workers, but tenure has weaker effects at younger ages. Additional analyses show that similar patterns prevail among men, but the relationship between individual and organizational careers is less consequential for women's attachment behavior.

GENDER AND MEDICAL INSURANCE:

This research investigates gender differences in employer-sponsored medical insurance coverage among full-time male and female workers in the United States and assesses the relevance of human capital theory and its compensating differentials corollary in predicting coverage. Data are analyzed from a subsample of the Quality of Employment Survey, a national probability sample of workers in the United States. Results indicate that men were more likely to have medical insurance coverage from their employers than were women; however, gender differences were minimized in a multivariate context when human capital and structural variables were controlled. Furthermore, human capital variables are, overall, weak predictors of whether both women and men received coverage. More generally, the data suggest that structural conditions of the occupation, rather than individual human capital, may be most relevant for future research.

Drinking to cope and self‐medication: Characteristics of jobs in relation to workers' drinking behavior

AbstractThis research extends recent studies of the relationship between characteristics of jobs and patterns of workers' alcohol consumption. Working within a ‘generalization perspective ’whereby job conditions are seen as having important effects on the mental health and behaviors of workers in non‐work settings, the current research derives and tests a model of four job‐related factors as they influence three aspects of alcohol use; the simple frequency—quantity of drinking, escapist‐oriented reasons for drinking, and a combination of heavier drinking with escapist‐oriented definitions which is labeled ‘self‐medication’. Analyses of data drawn from the 1973 Quality of Employment Survey (QES) indicate that the relationship between jobs and drinking behavior is more complex than previously conceptualized. Specifically, we find evidence that for working men characteristics of jobs affect levels of alcohol consumption and the incidence of self‐medicating drinking. These findings support and refine job‐based explanations of drinking behavior. The implications of these findings for subsequent research and model‐specification are discussed.

Unionism and changing employee views toward work

Using data from the 1977 Quality of Employment Survey and the 1984 Union Image Survey, this paper examines the changing importance of satisfaction with job elements that are not traditionally the focus of union activity (e.g., advancement, autonomy, interesting work) in the decision to unionize. The results provide modest evidence of an increase in the importance of satisfaction with these job elements as a determinant of union voting intent. Unions may achieve greater organizing success by giving more attention to such themes.

Gender, risk and access to tax-favored fringe benefits: A split labor market approach

This paper examines sex differences in access to tax-favored pension plans and group insurance. Since women cost more to insure than men, a split labor market is created. The hypothesis tested here is whether or not gender differences in fringe benefit costs are substantial enough to affect employers' decisions to provide them. If so, this would help explain the relative undercoverage of women. Multiple regression analysis of data from the 1977 Quality of Employment Survey is used to examine this. The results show little evidence of direct sex discrimination by employers. However, lower-status, female-dominated occupations are less likely to be insured. Policy implications are discussed.

Job characteristics in relation to the prevalence of myocardial infarction in the US Health Examination Survey (HES) and the Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HANES).

Associations between psychosocial job characteristics and past myocardial infarction (MI) prevalence for employed males were tested with the Health Examination Survey (HES) 1960-61, N = 2,409, and the Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HANES) 1971-75, N = 2,424. A new estimation method is used which imputes to census occupation codes, job characteristic information from national surveys of job characteristics (US Department of Labor, Quality of Employment Surveys). Controlling for age, we find that employed males with jobs which are simultaneously low in decision latitude and high in psychological work load (a multiplicative product term isolating 20 per cent of the population) have a higher prevalence of myocardial infarction in both data bases. In a logistic regression analysis, using job measures adjusted for demographic factors and controlling for age, race, education, systolic blood pressure, serum cholesterol, smoking (HANES only), and physical exertion, we find a low decision latitude/high psychological demand multiplicative product term associated with MI in both data bases. Additional multiple logistic regressions show that low decision latitude is associated with increased prevalence of MI in both the HES and the HANES. Psychological workload and physical exertion are significant only in the HANES.

Development and test of an occupational taxonomy based on job characteristics theory

The use of occupational classification systems has enjoyed a long tradition in vocational behavior. This study attempted to develop a new classification of occupations based on the degree of variety, identity, autonomy, significance, and feedback—major job characteristics often identified with the motivational potential of jobs. Based on two randomly drawn samples from 1515 respondents in the Quality of Employment Survey, 1977: Cross-Section ( R. Quinn & G. Staines, 1979, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI), a cluster analysis revealed 10 relatively homogeneous clusters of jobs across both samples. Additional analysis suggested further support for the taxonomy when between-cluster differences appeared to explain the relationship between the job characteristics and job satisfaction, organizational size, and prestige while within-cluster effects for these same variables were nonsystematic. Interpretation of the taxonomy centers on differences between levels of variety and autonomy versus different levels of identity, significance, and feedback across the 10 profiles. The taxonomy is also interpreted using the 15 most frequently occurring occupations in the study sample. Finally, the counseling implications of the results are discussed; limitations of the study are noted and the need for additional research is suggested.

Age Differences in Work Involvement

Utilizing cross-sectional and panel data from the 1972-1973 and 1977 Quality of Employment surveys, this article investigates three explanations of age differences in work involvement. Differences in cohort and job characteristics appear to be more plausible determinants of differences in psychological involvement with a specific job, while overall subjective commitment to the labor force may be more influenced by developmental aging processes. However, the effects of age on the general work role may vary by gender and occupation, thus suggesting that the nature of developmental aging processes are partially a function of an individual's position in the social structure.

Economic Sector and Job Satisfaction

In this article the relationship between economic sector and job satisfaction is explored. Given the absence of previous research, a framework relying on job satisfaction, dual labor market, and economic-segmentation literature is used to create two alternative hypotheses. If the externally defined objective characteristics of jobs are the critical factor in producing job satisfaction, then the “better” jobs in the core sector will result in job satisfaction differences favoring workers in the core. If individual needs and characteristics and the “fit” between these and job rewards are the critical factors in producing job satisfaction, then the workers in the core do not necessarily have an advantage; in fact the reverse may be true. These two hypotheses are tested using data from the 1973 Quality of Employment survey and two alternate measures of economic sector. Findings support the second hypothesis in that workers in the peripheral (or local and regional) sector have significantly higher levels of reported job satisfaction than those in the core (or monopoly) sector. We conclude that researchers need to consider economic sector as a source of variation in job satisfaction in addition to more conventional structures at the job and organizational level. Paradoxically, a consideration of economic sector may contribute to our understanding of the processes by which individual characteristics and job characteristics combine to create satisfied workers.

Wages and hazardous working conditions

The purpose of this paper is to provide a new empirical test for the existence of wage premiums paid to workers who are exposed to dangerous or unhealthy working conditions. Prior empirical studies have encountered problems with omitted ability data, omitted working conditions data and measurement error. The empirical model presented in this paper uses a difference specification to eliminate bias from omitted ability data. By assuming that all hazardous working conditions are measured by a single endogenous unobserved variable, this empirical model also eliminates bias due to omitted working conditions and measurement error. The empirical model is estimated using the 1973–7 version of the Quality of Employment Survey. The unique data in this survey facilitate estimation of a model in which working conditions are assumed to be unobservable. Using a two-stage technique for consistent and efficient estimation, the empirical results reported in this paper show that a compensating difference for hazardous work...

Quality of Employment Survey

Quality of Employment Survey

Occupation-related risks for colorectal cancer.

Several population data bases were used to generate hypotheses about associations between colorectal cancer and workplace exposures. The Third National Cancer Survey interview sample was used to select 343 male and 208 female cases and 626 male and 1,235 female cancer controls. Potential work exposures were assigned with the use of data from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health National Occupational Hazard Survey. Dietary factors were modeled from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. Work-related stress was considered with the use of a model based on the U.S. Department of Labor's Quality of Employment Survey. Other risk factors included age, race, ponderosity, and menopausal status. Logistic analysis yielded hypotheses for colon cancer risk in males with potentially high exposure to solvents, abrasives, and fuel oil and in those in jobs with high demand and low control (high "stress"). Hypotheses emerged for females with potentially high exposure to dyes, solvents, and grinding wheel dust.

Determinants of Career Change: A Path Analysis.

Using the Quality of Employment Survey 1973-77 panel data, the determinants of career change were examined for 69 career changers and 490 non changers. Overall, the working model was supported, but...

Right-to-Work Laws and the Extent of Unionization

It is a well-known fact that the extent of unionization is less in states with right-to-work (RTW) laws. A framework is developed for determining whether RTW laws actually cause a decrease in the extent of unionization or whether they simply mirror preexisting tastes of workers against unions. A set of empirical tests is proposed that can distinguish between these explanations based on differences between RTW and non-RTW states in the demand for union representation, the supply of union jobs relative to that demand, and the observed union/nonunion wage differential. These tests are implemented using disaggregated data from the Quality of Employment Survey and the Current Population Survey, and a pattern is found that is consistent with the hypothesis that RTW laws simply mirror preexisting preferences against union representation.