Does Job Satisfaction Make You Happy? An Analysis on ESS Data

Using data from the sixth round of the European Social Survey, this paper aims to understand whether Job-Satisfaction is a key predictor of overall Life-Satisfaction. Results support that hypothesis, showing evidence that job satisfaction strongly affects subjective wellbeing, net of the effect of other covariates, such as the educational level of the respondent, the age, the gender and the income. Taking into account possible sources of endogeneity, our paper also investigated what influences Job Satisfaction itself. The identification of the determinants of job satisfaction also allows us for providing policy suggestions for possible job-market reforms. Results show that an unlimited duration of contract, a more balanced relation between responsibility and independence in decision making, enrichment of tasks, and rotation of positions are all issues favourable to a higher Job Satisfaction.