Macroeconomic Conditions When Young Shape Job Preferences for Life

Preferences for monetary and nonmonetary 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 macroeconomic conditions when young shape workers' job preferences fo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe review of economics and statistics Vol. 105; no. 2; pp. 467 - 473
Main Authors Cotofan, Maria, Cassar, Lea, Dur, Robert, Meier, Stephan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published One Rogers Street, Cambridge, MA 02142-1209, USA MIT Press 03.03.2023
MIT Press Journals, The
Subjects
Motivation
Preferences
Workers
Young adults
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Summary:Preferences for monetary and nonmonetary 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 macroeconomic conditions when young shape workers' job preferences for life. Using variation in income-per-capita across U.S. regions and over time since the 1920s, we find that job preferences vary in systematic ways with experienced macroeconomic conditions during young adulthood. Recessions create cohorts of workers who give higher priority to income, whereas booms make cohorts care more about job meaning for the rest of their lives.
Bibliography:March, 2023
ISSN:0034-6535
1530-9142
DOI:10.1162/rest_a_01057