Abstract
This essay addresses the factors determining the satisfaction that volunteers derive from their own activity, and compares them with those determining the satisfaction of paid workers. The novelty of this approach is that volunteers and paid workers are compared within the same dataset (from Italy), using the same measure of rewards and reported satisfaction for both types of workers. The main findings are that volunteers are individuals who perform an activity which gives them satisfaction for a number of different reasons, and that, while the determinants of satisfaction are not exactly the same for volunteers and paid workers, both of them attach special consideration to the users’ well-being.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
The same set of independent variables were used for both volunteers and paid workers, with the following exceptions: a) wage in the volunteer equation; b) motivations for choosing the organization included only in the volunteers’ or paid workers’ questionnaires; c) volunteers’ civil status due to the high number of missing cases affecting the variable.
References
Bauer T (2004) High performance workplace practices and job satisfaction: evidence from Europe. RWI Mitteilungen 54/55:57–85
Borzaga C (ed) (2000) Capitale umano e qualità del lavoro nei servizi sociali. Fondazione Italiana del Volontariato, Rome
Borzaga C, Musella M (2003) (eds) Produttività ed efficienza nelle organizzazioni nonprofit. Edizioni31, Trento
Borzaga C, Gui B, Schenkel M (1995) Disoccupazione e bisogni insoddisfatti: il ruolo delle organizzazioni non-profit. Quaderni di Economia del lavoro 50:100–129
Clark AE (1997) Job satisfaction and gender: why are women so happy at work? Labour Economics 4:341–372
Cnaan RA, Amrofell L (1994) Mapping volunteer activity. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 23:335–351
Day KM, Devlin RA (1996) Volunteering and crowding out: Canadian econometric evidence. Canadian Journal of Economics 39:37–53
Depedri S (2003) Le determinanti della soddisfazione dei lavoratori: un’analisi per tipologie organizzative. In: Borzaga C, Musella M (eds) Produttività ed efficienza nelle organizzazioni nonprofit. Edizioni31, Trento
Freeman R (1997) Working for nothing: the supply of volunteer labor. Journal of Labor Economics 15:S140–S166
Gomez R, Gunderson M (2003) Volunteer activity and the demands of work and family. Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations 58:573–589
Govekar PL, Govekar MA (2002) Using economic theory and research to better understand volunteer behavior. Nonprofit Management and Leadership 13:33–48
Gui B (ed) (2000) Special Issue on “Economics and interpersonal relations”. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics 71(2)
Lane RE (1992) Work as ‘disutility’ and money as ‘happiness’: cultural origins of a basic market error. Journal of Socio-Economics 21:43–65
Lévy-Garboua L, Montmarquette C (2004) Reported job satisfaction: what does it mean? Journal of Socio-Economics 33:135–151
Liao-Troth M (2001) Attitude differences between paid workers and volunteers. Nonprofit Management and Leadership 11:423–442
Lydon R, Chevalier A (2002) Estimates of the effect of wages on job satisfaction. CEP Discussion Paper 531
Menchik P, Weisbrod BA (1987) Volunteer labor supply. Journal of Public Economics 32:159–183
Mosca M, Musella M (2003) Le relazioni tra salari, fairness ed effort nelle organizzazioni nonprofit. In: Borzaga C, Musella M (2003) (eds) Produttività ed efficienza nelle organizzazioni nonprofit. Edizioni31, Trento
Origo F, Pagani L (2006) Is work flexibility a stairway to heaven? The story told by job satisfaction in Europe. University of Milano Bicocca Department of Economics Working Paper 97
Schiff J, Weisbrod B (1993) Competition between for-profit and non-profit organizations. In: Ben-Ner A, Gui B (eds) The non-profit sector in the mixed economy. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor
Steinberg R (1990) Labor economics and the nonprofit sector. A literature review. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 19:2–19
Thompson AM III, Bono BA (1992) Alienation, self-actualization and the motivation for volunteer labor. Review of Radical Political Economics 24:115–123
Tortia E (2007) Worker well-being and perceived fairness: survey-based findings from Italy. Journal of Socio-Economics 37:2080–2094
Tschirhart M, Mesch D, Perry JL, Miller T, Lee G (2001) Stipended volunteers: their goals, experiences, satisfaction and likelihood of future service. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 31:422–443
Woolley F (2003) Social cohesion and voluntary activity: making connections. In: Osberg L (ed) The Economic Implications of Social Cohesion. University of Toronto Press, Toronto
Acknowledgments
We thank the participants to the 2006 AIEL Conference in Udine, and Marco Musella, Sergio Destefanis, Enrico Rettore, Guido Masarotto for their comments. The usual disclaimer applies.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Physica-Verlag Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Michelutti, M., Schenkel, M. (2009). Working for Nothing and Being Happy. The Determinants of the Satisfaction of Volunteers and Paid Workers. In: Musella, M., Destefanis, S. (eds) Paid and Unpaid Labour in the Social Economy. AIEL Series in Labour Economics. Physica, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2137-6_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2137-6_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Physica, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-7908-2136-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-7908-2137-6
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)