Assignments Lecture 7 on Personnel Economics 2016-2017
Cijfer/Grade: 7
Assignment employment relationship:
a. How important is trust in the workplace according to Helliwell & Huang? Is there a
gender difference? How do these findings relate to those of Cassar & Meier?
According to Helliwell & Huang (2010) trust is by far the strongest determinant of job
satisfaction. One of the reasons for this according to Helliwell & Huang (2010) is that
workplace trust provides our key measure of social capital in the workplace. When trust is
very high it will be positively related to the measures of social capital, but also to well-being.
Helliwell & Huang (2010) suggest that: “The estimated life satisfaction effects of workplace
trust are so large as to suggest either that trust is very costly to build and maintain, or that
there are unexploited gains available for trust-building activities by managers, shareholders,
and employees”. Life satisfaction is therefore also an important aspect for trust in the
workplace. When you consider the fact that people spent most of their time at work, this could
be reason for trust being that important.
Looking at gender there is a significant heterogeneity of preferences (Helliwell & Huang,
2010). According to Helliwell & Huang (2010) using ESC data suggest that women attach
more value to trust in management, and less to income, than do men, and the distributions of
jobs show that on average women, for given education levels, are more likely to hold jobs
where pay is lower and trust in management is higher.
The findings of Helliwell & Huang can be related to the findings of Cassar & Meier (2018).
Cassar & Meier (2018) suggested that employees do not only retrieve their motivation by
monetary compensation, but also by nonmonetary incentives. And they also mentioned that
employees value the meaningfulness of their work besides monetary incentives. This is in
relation to the findings of Helliwell & Huang (2010) because they also focused on the
nonmonetary aspects of work.
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Cijfer/Grade: 7
Assignment employment relationship:
a. How important is trust in the workplace according to Helliwell & Huang? Is there a
gender difference? How do these findings relate to those of Cassar & Meier?
According to Helliwell & Huang (2010) trust is by far the strongest determinant of job
satisfaction. One of the reasons for this according to Helliwell & Huang (2010) is that
workplace trust provides our key measure of social capital in the workplace. When trust is
very high it will be positively related to the measures of social capital, but also to well-being.
Helliwell & Huang (2010) suggest that: “The estimated life satisfaction effects of workplace
trust are so large as to suggest either that trust is very costly to build and maintain, or that
there are unexploited gains available for trust-building activities by managers, shareholders,
and employees”. Life satisfaction is therefore also an important aspect for trust in the
workplace. When you consider the fact that people spent most of their time at work, this could
be reason for trust being that important.
Looking at gender there is a significant heterogeneity of preferences (Helliwell & Huang,
2010). According to Helliwell & Huang (2010) using ESC data suggest that women attach
more value to trust in management, and less to income, than do men, and the distributions of
jobs show that on average women, for given education levels, are more likely to hold jobs
where pay is lower and trust in management is higher.
The findings of Helliwell & Huang can be related to the findings of Cassar & Meier (2018).
Cassar & Meier (2018) suggested that employees do not only retrieve their motivation by
monetary compensation, but also by nonmonetary incentives. And they also mentioned that
employees value the meaningfulness of their work besides monetary incentives. This is in
relation to the findings of Helliwell & Huang (2010) because they also focused on the
nonmonetary aspects of work.
1
