Privalko, Ivan
(2017)
Dynamic Outcomes: Effects of Job Mobility in Germany and
the UK.
PhD thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.
Abstract
The concept of job mobility is useful to sociologists who see inequality as stemming
from positions in a social structure, instead of the characteristics of those holding the
positions. Yet, authors more often explore the causes of job mobility than its
consequences. An important but rarely tested assumption in the labour market literature
is that job mobility leads to better positions.
This research explores the assumption, asking “what do workers get from mobility?” It
considers three aims. First, it explores the relationship between mobility types and
subjective and objective outcomes. Second, it explores differences between labour
market insiders and outsiders in the relationship between mobility and outcomes. Third,
it compares institutional differences between liberal and coordinated economies in the
mobility-outcomes relationship. The thesis uses two longitudinal panels to analyse the
outcomes of different forms of job mobility in the UK and Germany during the precrisis
years of 2000-2008.
The three aims act as configurations of the mobility-outcomes relationship, shedding
light on how it shapes worker action. Regarding mobility types, inter-firm mobility
leads to subjective gains, but does not result in objective ones. Intra-firm mobility leads
to objective gains, but has minor effects on subjective outcomes.
Differences between workers rely strongly on the institutional context. British women
appear to gain more from mobility than men; yet the gains are subjective or tied to
hours. German women are unaffected by mobility, whereas men make subjective
bargains using changes. Education differences suggest non-tertiary groups gain the most
from mobility when outcomes are subjective but the least when outcomes are objective.
Institutional comparison shows separate opportunity structures and separate meanings to
mobility in both countries. German institutions internalise workers with high promotion
premiums, which are smaller in the UK. The UK has a wide variance in working
conditions which may explain large subjective premiums tied to inter-firm change. In
Germany, quits may be fuelled by a want for more interesting or satisfactory work, at
the compromise of other outcomes. In the UK, quits may be fuelled by a need to
improve one’s immediate environment or responsibilities. The thesis concludes that the
promises of mobile markets should be treated with scepticism.
Item Type: |
Thesis
(PhD)
|
Keywords: |
Dynamic Outcomes; Effects; Job Mobility; Germany; UK; |
Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology |
Item ID: |
9553 |
Depositing User: |
IR eTheses
|
Date Deposited: |
14 Jun 2018 14:47 |
Funders: |
ERC |
URI: |
|
Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
Repository Staff Only(login required)
|
Item control page |
Downloads per month over past year
Origin of downloads