No abstract

Many studies have found that unionized workers express less job satisfaction than nonunion workers. The "exit-voice" explanation of this phenomenon is that dissatisfied nonunion workers tend to quit, whereas dissatisfied union workers tend to remain in their jobs and express their complaints through various voice mechanisms provided by their union. Furthermore, this "voiced" dissatisfaction, animated by the hope of effecting change, is said to be distinct from "genuine" dissatisfaction. This study, the first to examine the exit-voice issue in Britain, expands on the set of independent variables used by similar North American and Australian studies. When they control for industrial relations climate, the authors find that the negative relationship between unionization and satisfaction dwindles to insignificance in many cases. They conclude that union workers' relative dissatisfaction is in most cases entirely "genuine" and stems from poor industrial relations or from unions forming where satisfaction would be low anyway.A large number of studies have examined whether unions increase the pay of their members. However, if we are to assess the full impact of trade unions, a more fundamental question is whether trade unions raise the utility of their mem-

The determinants of job satisfaction are estimated for Ph.D. level scientists in the United States across academic and nonacademic sectors. Female scientists report lower job satisfaction than males in academia but higher job satisfaction than males in the nonacademic sector. Academic scientists with tenure have substantially greater job satisfaction than non-academic scientists but academic scientists without tenure report similar levels of satisfaction as non-academic scientists. Finally, in each sector, job satisfaction is greater when comparison income is greater in their own sector, while comparisons across sectors generally do not affect job satisfaction. JEL: J28, J44

Since Ehrenberg and Schwarz (1986) there has been a plethora of articles investigating the relationship between public and private sector wages. This article examines part of this post 1986 literature by reviewing articles that examine central government-private sector wage differentials. In sum, most articles find that there is a premium paid to central government workers, although the premium has declined in recent years. In developing countries, however, the differential is usually negative. Women and minorities tend to do better in the public sector relative to their private sector counterparts. The evidence on union premiums between sectors is mixed, although the premium tends to be higher in the private sector. However public sector union workers do not do much better than private sector union members. The magnitude of all of the wage differentials discussed are sensitive to the estimation technique and data source used. The most common explanation for the public sector wage premium is economic rent accruing to government workers, although the public sector wage determination literature suggests that the differential is due to returns to political and 'vote producing' activities not relevant in the private sector.

Economic insecurity is an emerging topic that is increasingly relevant to the labour markets of developed economies. This paper uses data from the British Household Panel Survey to assess the causal effect of various aspects of economic insecurity on mental health in the UK. The results support the idea that economic insecurity is an emerging socioeconomic determinant of mental health, although the size of the effect varies across measures of insecurity. In particular, perceived future risks are more damaging to mental health than realised volatility, insecurity is more damaging for men, and the negative effect of insecurity is constant throughout the income distribution. Importantly, these changes in mental health are experienced without future unemployment necessarily occurring.

Most comparability studies examine average pay differences, but this article explores differences in the distribution of public‐ and private‐sector wages. Applying a new type of decomposition method, the results indicate that the difference in average wages is only a small part of wage incomparability, whereas differences in the variance of the differential are a much more important factor explaining incomparability. Further results find that differences in wage structure and unobservable factors determining wages have distinct effects in different parts of the wage distribution.

This paper examines a wide range of determinants of retiree well-being of retirees. Using data from the 2000 Health and Retirement Study, increases in economic factors such as income lead to higher well-being, although relative income has a larger effect than absolute income. The strongest predictors are the voluntariness of entering retirement, pension characteristics, and health. Retirees "forced" to retire or have defined contribution pensions or bad health have significantly lower well-being. The results suggest a more nuanced approach in addressing retiree well-being than just a focus on the economic well-being of retirees.

Recently there have been suggestions that job insecurity is on the increase. Two factors which may explain this are the reduced role of the trade unions and increasing flexibility in the labour market with an associated reduction in the proportion of workers in permanent fulltime employment. For the first time the relationship between trade union membership, tenure and the workers perception of job insecurity is examined using British data (drawn from the 1986/7 Social Change and Economic Life Initiative). Econometric evidence supports in part the view that while job insecurity encourages workers to join trade unions, overall trade unions tend to increase job security and also suggests that there is a strong relationship between tenure and job insecurity.