The Economic and Social Review, Vol. 39, No. 3, Winter, 2008
http://hdl.handle.net/2262/62030
2024-03-29T12:40:14ZEmployment and life-satisfaction: insights from Ireland
http://hdl.handle.net/2262/60167
Employment and life-satisfaction: insights from Ireland
Brereton, Finbarr; Clinch, J. Peter; Ferreira, Susana
Mainstream neoclassical economics takes it as given that the consumption of goods and
services (output) is positively related to well-being. Work (labour-input) is assumed to be negatively related to well-being at the margin and so is only undertaken in exchange for payment. This view has been challenged for decades in the psychology and sociology literature and results suggests that employment status (especially unemployment) has profound effects on well-being, even at the margin. It is surprising then that several labour force status categories have been under researched in the literature to date. In this paper, using a sample of Irish adults carried out in 2001, we extend the current literature to examine the impacts of additional labour force status categories on life-satisfaction based on International Labour Organisation (ILO) classifications. These include part-time employment, disconnection from the labour force and being disabled, unable to work. Additionally, we expand the analysis of unemployment in the happiness literature and examine if the effects of unemployment and part-time employment on life satisfaction are conditioned by gender. Insights show that being part-time employed has a significant negative effect on life satisfaction, particularly for males. Being unemployed is found to have a significant negative effect on well-being, independent of gender and income, but no such effect is found for the local unemployment rate.
2008-01-01T00:00:00ZHow reliable is the Quarterly National Household Survey for migration research?
http://hdl.handle.net/2262/59021
How reliable is the Quarterly National Household Survey for migration research?
Barrett, Alan; Kelly, Elish
Much research has been conducted on immigration into Ireland in recent years using data from the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS), the official source for labour market data in Ireland. As it is known that the QNHS undercounts immigrants, a concern exists over whether the profile of immigrants being provided is accurate. For example, QNHS-based research has shown that immigrants in Ireland are a highly-educated group. However, if it is the case that those who are missed by the QNHS are more heavily drawn from among low-skilled immigrants, then the profile being reported and used in other research may be inaccurate. In this paper, we use the Irish Census of 2006 to assess the reliability of the profile of immigrants provided by the QNHS by comparing the characteristics of immigrants in both datasets. In general, we find that the QNHS does indeed provide a reliable picture and that earlier findings on the education levels of immigrants in Ireland hold.
2008-01-01T00:00:00ZBook review: Interrogating Irish policies / by William Kingston. Dublin: Dublin University Press, 2007.
http://hdl.handle.net/2262/58936
Book review: Interrogating Irish policies / by William Kingston. Dublin: Dublin University Press, 2007.
Barry, Frank; Kingston, William
Book review
2008-01-01T00:00:00ZJob turnover in Irish manufacturing 1972?2006
http://hdl.handle.net/2262/58930
Job turnover in Irish manufacturing 1972?2006
Lawless, Martina; Murphy, Alan P.
With the recent slowdown in global economic growth, there has been considerable focus
in Ireland on some high-profile job losses, particularly in the manufacturing sector. This paper places such developments into a broader context and shows that aggregate changes in the net number of jobs arise from large numbers of firms both increasing and decreasing employment simultaneously at all points in time. Even at the height of the Celtic Tiger boom when employment grew by 8 per cent, this was the result of 15 per cent growth in jobs by expanding firms offset by 7 per cent of positions being eliminated in contracting firms. One important feature of job flows is that they may contribute to productivity growth by allowing movements from low to high productivity firms. To a degree, this reflects the re-allocation of jobs from declining sectors to expanding sectors, but this is not a comprehensive explanation. A significant factor underlying job flows is the reallocation within sectors from under-performing firms to expanding firms. This study also shows that productivity growth is, on balance, positive for employment growth. On the other hand, these calculations also show how hard it is for policymakers to identify firms that will be employment and productivity growth winners.
2008-01-01T00:00:00Z