Vignette Equivalence and Response Consistency: The Case of Job Satisfaction

32 Pages Posted: 11 Dec 2011

See all articles by Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell

Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell

Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (IAE-CSIC), Barcelona

B.M.S. van Praag

University of Amsterdam - Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Tinbergen Institute in Amsterdam; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Ioannis Theodossiou

University of Aberdeen - Business School

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Abstract

We compare reported job satisfaction with vignette evaluations of hypothetical jobs by using a British, Greek and Dutch data set, containing 95 randomly assigned vignettes. In order to test comparability of international data sets recently the method of anchoring vignettes has been introduced by King et al. (2004). This intuitively and attractive idea requires the properties of vignette equivalence and response consistency. In our data set both job satisfaction and vignettes are numerically evaluated on a 0-10-scale. This fact allows us to interpret the evaluations as cardinal satisfaction values and to estimate satisfaction functions for vignettes and for the own job situation. We find that both functions differ significantly: vignette evaluations appear to depend on the own job situation and other individual characteristics. Hence, without correction for those differences in background characteristics, vignette evaluations are not comparable between individuals. Similar conclusions are reached for response consistency.

Keywords: vignettes, vignette equivalence, response consistency, job satisfaction, subjective well-being

JEL Classification: J28, D6, J24, C25

Suggested Citation

Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada and van Praag, Bernard and Theodossiou, Ioannis, Vignette Equivalence and Response Consistency: The Case of Job Satisfaction. IZA Discussion Paper No. 6174, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1970769 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1970769

Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell (Contact Author)

Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (IAE-CSIC), Barcelona ( email )

Barcelona, Bellaterra 08193
Spain

Bernard Van Praag

University of Amsterdam - Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) ( email )

Roetersstraat 11
Amsterdam, 1018 WB
Netherlands
31 20 5256018 (Phone)
31 20 5256013 (Fax)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Tinbergen Institute in Amsterdam

Gustav Mahlerplein 117
Amsterdam, 1082 MS
Netherlands

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

Ioannis Theodossiou

University of Aberdeen - Business School ( email )

Edward Wright Building
Dunbar Street
Aberdeen, Scotland AB24 3QY
United Kingdom

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