The Ministry as an Occupational Labor Market

Abstract

Attachment to one's employer is not the same as attachment to one's occupation (profession), but little theory or research exist to explain why the two are different. The authors integrate arguments about market viability of occupational labor markets from Bridges and Villemez and arguments about professional values from Wallace in offering the hypothesis that attachment to one's employer is based primarily on economic rationality, whereas attachment to one's occupation (profession) is determined more by adherence to a service calling associated with that occupation. Data from a national sample of 2,435 clergy in two Protestant denominations having an open labor market structure support this hypothesis.