Are Immigrants "Built Different"? A Comparative Analysis of Working Conditions and Job Satisfaction in the United States

Abstract

The fundamental motivation behind labor force participation is securing a source of income that covers basic, necessary expenses. Past this benchmark, marginal income becomes substitutable with non-wage job characteristics colloquially referred to as perks and benefits. Previous studies have used survey data to quantify the monetary values for non-wage job characteristics, with workers' willingness-to-pay equating to preference. Given the large quantity of available survey data collected from American workers, this paper seeks to push the knowledge of worker preferences by estimating the direct effects of working conditions on workers' job satisfaction and comparing effect magnitude based on workers' immigration status. Data were taken from the RAND Corporation's first wave of the American Working Conditions survey which was fielded in 2015 to a representative panel of U.S. workers. Empirical analysis includes a series of summary statistics and linear models using the AWCS's raked sample weights which observe group differences in demographics, job satisfaction, instances of job characteristics, effects of job characteristics on job satisfaction, and workers' ability to match personal characteristics with job characteristics. Results showed that immigrants are more satisfied with their working conditions than non-immigrants, not because they have different job characteristics or preferences, but because they appear to demonstrate a superior ability to select fitting jobs.