Gender differences in job dissatisfaction in a developing country

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between job dissatisfaction and gender using an objective behavioural measure variable for dissatisfaction. Design/methodology/approach A monthly household panel structure was drawn from the Brazilian labour market, and a variety of econometric methodologies was applied. Findings This finding contradicts most articles published on the subject and corroborates the theoretical argument that women tend to be more risk-averse than men in the rates of labour turnover. Research limitations/implications There are no sample surveys to address issue directly, thereby restricting the analyses to an individual study case. The concept of relative dissatisfaction is adopted, which can lead to either underestimation or overestimation, although this possibility has not been proven according to the sensitivity analysis applied. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature by carrying out the first empirical analysis on the relationship between job satisfaction and gender using a categorial variable, which minimises the bias of subjectivity (psychological factors) since it is associated with employees’ attitude (what they do) rather than their opinion (what they say) about job dissatisfaction. The paper uses appropriate econometric methods to measure job dissatisfaction. The results differ from most published articles on the subject.