Job Characteristics as Determinants of Subjective Well-Being in Russia and Germany: Comparative Panel Data Analysis

The focus of the study is the link between job characteristics, job satisfaction and subjective well-being in Russia and Germany. The study was carried out within the framework of comparative panel data analysis on the basis of two longitudinal datasets: Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) and German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). The results of the research show both similarities and differences in the way job characteristics influence subjective well-being between the two countries. The key similarity is the presence of strong positive reciprocal link between job satisfaction and life satisfaction. The key difference is the variability in the significance of coefficients related to material and nonmaterial work benefits. In the Russian sample, the positive effect of salary on subjective well-being is strongly pronounced, while such effect is observed to a much smaller extent in the German sample. The result of the analysis of the German sample, in turn, show high significance of nonmaterial benefits, such as intrinsic motivation.