Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP15639
Authors: Maria Cotofan; Lea Cassar; Robert Dur; Stephan Meier
Abstract: Preferences for monetary and non-monetary job attributes are important for understanding workers’ motivation and the organization of work. Little is known, however, about how those job preferences are formed. We study how macroeconomicconditions when young shape workers’ job preferences for the rest of their life. Usingvariation in income-per-capita across US regions and over time since the 1920s, wefind that job preferences vary in systematic ways with experienced macroeconomicconditions during young adulthood. Recessions create cohorts of workers who givehigher priority to income, whereas booms make cohorts care more about job meaning, for the rest of their life.
Keywords: preferences for job attributes; experience; macroeconomic condition; generational difference
JEL Codes: D9; E7; J2; M5
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| importance of job meaning increases with age (J29) | importance of income decreases (E25) |
| macroeconomic conditions during young adulthood (E24) | job preferences (J29) |
| higher levels of regional income during impressionable years (R11) | importance of meaningful work (J29) |
| higher levels of regional income during impressionable years (R11) | less importance on high income (D31) |
| macroeconomic conditions during impressionable years (E66) | job preferences throughout careers (J29) |
| macroeconomic conditions during impressionable years (E66) | importance of job preferences compared to other life stages (J29) |