Le travail est à nouveau au centre des préoccupations actuelles. Nous vous avons proposé ce mois-ci un tour d’horizon des effets du télétravail sur la satisfaction, et nous relevons une série d’articles motivants sur le sujet. Nous rebondissons par ailleurs sur une enquête du Pew Research Center, qui met en évidence chez les Américains le même type de pessimisme et de nostalgie que celui que nous documentons en France.
Observatoire
Faut-il abolir le lieu de travail ? Ce que nous apprend l’épisode de télétravail durant les de périodes confinement
Pendant de longues années, les salariés ont rêvé de pouvoir travailler à distance au moins un jour par semaine, tout en se heurtant à la réticence sceptique des entreprises. Mais en mars 2020, le dispositif du télétravail, qui concernait moins de 5% des travailleurs avant le Covid-19, a soudain été imposé à près de 40% d’entre eux. Au terme de cette expérience de plus d’un an, reviendra-t-on au statu quo ante ? Ou bien, à l’inverse, se dirige-t-on vers un modèle d’entreprise totalement hors-les-murs ? S’il est encore trop tôt pour le dire, il est clair que cela dépendra d’une part, de la productivité des travailleurs à distance, et d’autre part de l’appétence de ces derniers pour ce dispositif. De ce point de vue, la question qui se pose est de savoir si le télétravail est propice ou néfaste à leur bien-être. Or, le recul de l’expérience montre que la possibilité de travailler à domicile est largement plébiscitée par les employés, mais que son effet sur leur bien-être dépend étroitement du temps passé en télétravail, selon que celui-ci est pratiqué à temps complet ou à temps partiel.
Claudia Senik, « Faut-il abolir le lieu de travail ? Ce que nous apprend l’épisode de télétravail durant les de périodes confinement », Notes de l’Observatoire du bien-être (Paris: CEPREMAP, 11 mai 2023), https://www.cepremap.fr/2023/05/note-de-lobservatoire-du-bien-etre-n2023-08-faut-il-abolir-le-lieu-de-travail-ce-que-nous-apprend-lepisode-de-teletravail-durant-les-de-periodes-confinement/.
Pessimisme en France et aux États-Unis
À l’occasion d’une enquête par le Pew Research Center, nous revenons sur le lien entre pessimisme quant à l’avenir du pays et nostalgie du passé récent. Ce trait, que nous documentons en France depuis plusieurs années, existe aussi aux États-Unis.
Mathieu Perona, « Pessimisme en France et aux États-Unis », Billet, Carnet de l’Observatoire du Bien-être du CEPREMAP (blog), 5 mai 2023, https://obe.hypotheses.org/625.
Travail en France
Les protestations contre le report de l’âge minimal de départ à la retraite ont remis au centre des débats la question des conditions de travail en France.
Le Cepremap a régulièrement contribué à éclairer cette question au travers de ses Opuscules : Bas salaires et qualité de l’emploi : l’exception française ? (2009), Bien ou mal payés ? Les travailleurs du public et du privé jugent leurs salaires (2014), Qualité de l’emploi et productivité (2017), La Polarisation de l’emploi en France, ce qui s’est aggravé depuis la crise de 2008 (2019), et nous avions réalisé pour notre Rapport 2020 un positionnement comparatif des Français par rapport aux autres européens quant à leur satisfaction au travail et sur leurs conditions de travail.
Dans les publications de ces dernières semaines, nous relevons les remarquable synthèse sur le site du LIEPP, par M. Bigi et D. Méda, « Prendre la mesure de la crise du travail en France » (voir aussi cette série d’émissions pour France Culture), H. Rivoal, « Les hommes et l’égalité professionnelle : qu’est-ce qui coince encore ? », B. Palier « Comment les stratégies du low cost à la française ont intensifié et abîmé le travail ? », le texte de F. Dupuy, « Le travail et la vie : les raisons d’un divorce » pour La Grande Conversation et l’entretien avec Agnès Parent-Thirion pour Liaisons Sociales Europe.
Lu sur le web
Willingness to Pay for Clean Air: Evidence from the UK
Abstract: This paper uses life satisfaction data to help the design of climate mitigation policies in the United Kingdom. We assess the effects of the exposure to ambient pollutants on long-term life satisfaction and short-term mental health in the UK. We estimate augmented Cobb-Douglas utility functions using pooled and random effects ordinal logit models. Results show that increases in NO2, PM10 and PM2.5 significantly decrease the odds of longterm happiness and short-term mental health in the UK. The willingness to pay for clean air is also significant and increases with level of education. These measurements derived can be used as benchmarks for pollution abatement subsidies or pollution taxes and can help in projecting a more comprehensive assessment of costs and benefits.
Giorgio Maarraoui et al., « Willingness to Pay for Clean Air: Evidence from the UK », IMF Working Paper (International Monetary Fund, 17 février 2023), https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/imfimfwpa/2023_2f035.htm.
A gendered analysis of family, work, social spheres and life satisfaction: The case of highly educated migrants in Hong Kong
Abstract: Migration is expected to bring higher life satisfaction with better social and economic achievement. While studies on life satisfaction treat migrants mainly as a single homogeneous group, knowledge about highly educated migrants is scant in current migration scholarship. Highly educated migrants may not have the higher life satisfaction because they may also have higher expectations. To complicate matters further, there may be gender differences in the experiences and life satisfaction of highly educated migrants. This study examines the factors associated with levels of life satisfaction among highly educated migrants from a gender perspective. First, we examine whether the level of life satisfaction differs by gender. Second, we explore various factors associated with the life satisfaction of highly educated migrants and whether these factors differ by gender. We examine these relationships using data from a respondent-driven sampling of 2,884 highly educated Mainland Chinese migrants in Hong Kong. Our results indicate that the life satisfaction of female migrants is related to their social networks, whereas the life satisfaction of male migrants is related to economic security.
Pui Kwan Man, Rebecca Yiqing Gan, et Eric Fong, « A Gendered Analysis of Family, Work, Social Spheres and Life Satisfaction: The Case of Highly Educated Migrants in Hong Kong », Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 2 mai 2023, 01171968231170503, https://doi.org/10.1177/01171968231170503.
The Gender Well-being Gap
Abstract: Given recent controversies about the existence of a gender wellbeing gap we revisit the issue estimating gender differences across 55 subjective well-being metrics – 37 positive affect and 18 negative affect – contained in 8 cross-country surveys from 167 countries across the world, two US surveys covering multiple years and a survey for Canada. We find women score more highly than men on all negative affect measures and lower than men on all but three positive affect metrics, confirming a gender wellbeing gap. The gap is apparent across countries and time and is robust to the inclusion of exogenous covariates (age, age squared, time and location fixed effects). It is also robust to conditioning on a wider set of potentially endogenous variables. However, when one examines the three ‘global’ wellbeing metrics – happiness, life satisfaction and Cantril’s Ladder – women are either similar to or ‘happier’ than men. This finding is insensitive to which controls are included and varies little over time. The difference does not seem to arise from measurement or seasonality as the variables are taken from the same surveys and frequently measured in the same way. The concern here though is that this is inconsistent with objective data where men have lower life expectancy and are more likely to die from suicide, drug overdoses and other diseases. This is the true paradox – morbidity doesn’t match mortality by gender. Women say they are less cheerful and calm, more depressed, and lonely, but happier and more satisfied with their lives, than men.
David G. Blanchflower et Alex Bryson, « The Gender Well-being Gap », Working Paper, Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research, mai 2023), https://doi.org/10.3386/w31212.
Music sentiment and stock returns around the world
Abstract: This paper introduces a real-time, continuous measure of national sentiment that is language-free and thus comparable globally: the positivity of songs that individuals choose to listen to. This is a direct measure of mood that does not pre-specify certain mood-affecting events nor assume the extent of their impact on investors. We validate our music-based sentiment measure by correlating it with mood swings induced by seasonal factors, weather conditions, and COVID-related restrictions. We find that music sentiment is positively correlated with same-week equity market returns and negatively correlated with next-week returns, consistent with sentiment-induced temporary mispricing. Results also hold under a daily analysis and are stronger when trading restrictions limit arbitrage. Music sentiment also predicts increases in net mutual fund flows, and absolute sentiment precedes a rise in stock market volatility. It is negatively associated with government bond returns, consistent with a flight to safety.
Alex Edmans et al., « Music Sentiment and Stock Returns around the World », Journal of Financial Economics 145, no 2, Part A (1 août 2022): 234‑54, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2021.08.014.
Alone in a Crowd: Is Social Contact Associated with Less Psychological Pain of Loneliness in Everyday Life?
Abstract: People are often advised to engage in social contact to cope with the experience of loneliness and improve well-being. But are the moments of loneliness actually more bearable when spent in other people’s company? In this research, we proposed and tested two conflicting theoretical accounts regarding the role of social contact: social contact is associated with a stronger (the amplifying account) or with a weaker (the buffering account) negative effect of loneliness on psychological well-being. Analyses of three datasets collected using ecological momentary assessments (Nindividuals = 3,035) revealed that the negative association between loneliness and well-being was stronger when participants were with others than alone, consistent with the amplifying account. Further, when participants experienced high levels of loneliness, being with others was associated with the same or with even a lower level of well-being than being alone. These findings suggest that simply spending time with others (vs. alone) is not associated with a reduced burden of loneliness and may even backfire.
Olga Stavrova et Dongning Ren, « Alone in a Crowd: Is Social Contact Associated with Less Psychological Pain of Loneliness in Everyday Life? », Journal of Happiness Studies, 4 mai 2023, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-023-00661-3.
Life Satisfaction and Socio-Economic Vulnerability: Evidence from the Basic Income Experiment in Barcelona
Abstract: This work focuses on the implications of introducing a variation of a Basic Income for individuals in grim socio-economic conditions in Barcelona (Spain). We explore the happiness and socio-psychological imprint of living in material deprivation in a metropolitan city. Surveying people who joined the two-year Municipal Inclusion Support (MIS) scheme launched by the Municipality of Barcelona, we first identify the major constructs that contribute to recipients’ subjective well-being, paying particular attention to the sense of socio-economic vulnerability. Secondly, we explore the way beneficiaries’ subjective well-being changed over the project duration. Overall, the introduction of the MIS has had a positive effect on the subjective well-being of its recipients over the program duration. We also find that the profound and lasting effect of material and food deprivation, and the continuous stress these entail, explain changes in subjective well-being better than the actual income level. Notably, the creation and presence of networks for mutual support emerges as a pillar for human well-being in contexts of socio-economic vulnerability. This result stood out for women, who were majority group among the basic income recipients, pointing at high level of female economic vulnerability.
Filka Sekulova, Fabricio Bonilla, et Bru Laín, « Life Satisfaction and Socio-Economic Vulnerability: Evidence from the Basic Income Experiment in Barcelona », Applied Research in Quality of Life, 11 mai 2023, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-023-10176-x.
Accounting For Individual-Specific Reliability of Self-Assessed Measures of Economic Preferences and Personality Traits
Abstract: Measures based on self-assessments, which are increasingly important in empirical economic research, are plagued by measurement error. This paper presents the first attempt at measuring both revealed and self-reported reliability of individuals’ answers on self-reports of latent characteristics. We show that measurement error on self-reports relevant to economists is heterogeneous across individuals and can be reasonably approximated by a distribution with two unobserved types. We propose a straightforward survey question which allows to distinguish individuals who give highly reliable answers from those who do not, using cross-sectional data. We demonstrate that it predicts revealed individual reliability over and above all measured characterises, survey conditions, and experimental treatments. We show how our simple self-reported reliability measure can be used to cost-effectively reduce attenuation bias in estimates of cognitive and non-cognitive determinants of high school GPA, college graduation, unemployment, and life satisfaction. Without requiring panel data, the achieved correction is similar to some of the most effective reduced-form theory-based approaches in the existing literature. Finally, we clarify the role of effort and self-knowledge in generating measurement error and propose a simple model which rationalizes our findings.
Thomas Dohmen et Tomáš Jagelka, « Accounting For Individual-Specific Reliability of Self-Assessed Measures of Economic Preferences and Personality Traits », IZA Discussion Paper (Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), mars 2023), https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/izaizadps/dp16027.htm.
Is it worth it? Greater risk aversion with lower life satisfaction among depressed individuals
Abstract: Decisions of individuals with depression are often risk-averse. Risk-aversion may also extend to decisions regarding treatment, which may cause individuals to forgo or delay treatment. It is also well established that depression is associated with lower satisfaction with life. However, whether life satisfaction is associated with risk aversion for individuals with depression is not yet known. Three groups of participants (Depressed: n = 61; Chronic pain: n = 61; Comorbid depression and pain: n = 58) completed a clinical interview and several self-report questionnaires, including the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Participants also completed two utility elicitation tasks: time trade-off (TTO), which measures utilities of health states without implied risks, and standard gamble (SG), which measures utilities of health states in the presence of risk (presented in this study as a hypothetical clinical trial described as having both potential harms and benefits). Risk aversion is defined as the difference in the utility ratings generated via SG and via TTO. For both TTO and SG, individuals evaluated their own depression or pain. When perfect health was used as a hypothetical benefit in TTO and SG tasks, satisfaction with life was not associated with risk preferences, for either depressed participants or participants with chronic pain (all ps ns). However, for participants with depression, when the hypothetical benefit was a more ecologically valid ‘mild’ depression in TTO and SG tasks, lower satisfaction with life was associated with greater risk aversion (p < .005; p < .03). For depressed individuals, therefore, lower satisfaction with life may be associated with risk aversion regarding treatments when benefits are seen as minor, which may result in treatment avoidance and, consequently, further worsening of both symptoms and life satisfaction.
Bethany E. Young et al., « Is it worth it? Greater risk aversion with lower life satisfaction among depressed individuals », Psychology, Health & Medicine 0, no 0 (11 mai 2023): 1‑11, https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2023.2211805.
Which income comparisons matter to people, and how? Evidence from a large field experiment
Abstract: Received wisdom holds that income rank matters for life satisfaction. In much of the literature, however, income comparisons are limited to the national population and evidence is correlational. In this paper, we investigate differences in the causal effects of rank information across reference groups. In a representative sample of mid-career Finns, we randomize individuals to receive personal rank information about educational, municipal, occupational, or age reference groups, and compare the effects, for a set of alternative welfare measures, to the standard national reference group and to a control group that receives no information. We also characterize the accuracy of rank beliefs across groups. Our data, which integrates experimental and register data, finds that rank information causes differences in satisfaction with disposable income, perceived fairness of own income, and wage satisfaction, but not life satisfaction. We also find substantial variation in the effects across reference groups, with those for the national reference group both weak and insignificant.
Xiaogeng Xu et al., « Which Income Comparisons Matter to People, and How? Evidence from a Large Field Experiment », Working Paper, Helsinki GSE Discussion Papers (Helsinki Graduate School of Economics, mai 2023), https://www.helsinkigse.fi/discussion-paper-9.
Exploring the Effects of Consumption Expenditures on Life Satisfaction in China
Abstract: This study, using data from China Family Panel Studies, investigates how different types of consumption expenditures affect individuals’ life satisfaction in China. The results demonstrate that overall consumption expenditures and savings are positively associated with life satisfaction irrespective of whether income remains constant or not. When the components of consumption expenditures are scrutinized, increased spending on conspicuous goods augments life satisfaction while increased spending on basic goods diminishes it after controlling for confounding factors. Evidence of relationship heterogeneity across income groups is presented: conspicuous spending contributes to life satisfaction in low- and middle-income groups; however, increased basic consumption expenditures have a negative impact on the lowest and second lowest income groups, but no effect on higher income groups. This study contributes to the research on consumption and wellbeing in emerging markets with significant implications for marketing and policy.
Qian Li, Xiaoguang Huang, et Hanwen Zhang, « Exploring the Effects of Consumption Expenditures on Life Satisfaction in China », Journal of Happiness Studies, 19 mai 2023, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-023-00665-z.
Three years of COVID-19 and life satisfaction in Europe: A macro view
Abstract: Every country in Europe experienced an adverse impact from the COVID-19 pandemic on life satisfaction, though on average, satisfaction with life in the summer of 2022 is about the same as the pre-pandemic value in the autumn of 2019. Typically, an upsurge in the severity of the pandemic (measured by the number of COVID-related deaths) is associated with declining life satisfaction and an ebbing, with increasing life satisfaction. Of the three waves of the pandemic between March 2020 and the autumn of 2022, the most severe impact typically occurred in 2021 during the second wave; in the third wave, the response declined due to the spread of effective vaccines and the takeover of omicron variants.
Richard A. Easterlin et Kelsey J. O’Connor, « Three years of COVID-19 and life satisfaction in Europe: A macro view », Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120, no 19 (9 mai 2023): e2300717120, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2300717120.