Bad Jobs Versus Good Jobs: Does It Matter for Life and Job Satisfaction?

Using panel data from the National Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment Survey (ENEMDU) for Ecuador, we analyze the outcomes of life and job satisfaction whether moving from bad job to a good job—and vice versa—on life and job satisfaction. In contrast with bad jobs, good jobs are characterized by being employed in the formal sector, with social security registration, and earning at least the minimum wage. Using a conditional logit estimate, we found that workers who move from a bad to a good job increase job satisfaction by 9.5%, whereas when the transition is from a good to a bad job, job satisfaction decreases by 8.5%; in terms of gender, the effect is greater for men than women. Finally, we did not find any significant effect of job transitions on life satisfaction.