Job Satisfaction of Spanish University Graduates

This paper investigates the determinants of job satisfaction of university graduates in Spain. We base our analysis on Locke"s discrepancy theory [Locke (1969)] and decompose subjective evaluation of job characteristics into surplus and deficit levels. We also study the importance of overeducat...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Kucel, Aleksander, Vilalta-Bufí, Montserrat
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2013
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/57311
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/57311
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Satisfacció en el treball
Intervenció educativa
Motivació en l'educació
Titulats universitaris
Job satisfaction
Educational intervention
Motivation in education
College graduates
Description
Summary:This paper investigates the determinants of job satisfaction of university graduates in Spain. We base our analysis on Locke"s discrepancy theory [Locke (1969)] and decompose subjective evaluation of job characteristics into surplus and deficit levels. We also study the importance of overeducation and over-skilling on job satisfaction. We use REFLEX data, a survey of university graduates. We conclude that job satisfaction is mostly determined by the subjective evaluation of intrinsic job characteristics, with an asymmetric impact of surpluses and deficits. Over-skilling is much more important than over-education in explaining the job satisfaction of university graduates, although the latter is also significant.