Browsing by Person "Otterbach, Steffen"

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Job insecurity, employability, and health
an analysis for germany across generations
(2014) Otterbach, Steffen; Sousa-Poza, Alfonso
In this paper, we use 12 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel to examine the relationship between job insecurity, employability and health-related well-being. Our results indicate that being unemployed has a strong negative effect on life satisfaction and health. They also, however, highlight the fact that this effect is most prominent among individuals over the age of 40. A second observation is that job insecurity is also associated with lower levels of life satisfaction and health, and this association is quite strong. This negative effect of job insecurity is, in many cases, exacerbated by poor employability.
Mismatches between actual and preferred work time
empirical evidence of hours constraints in 21 countries
(2009) Otterbach, Steffen
This paper analyzes the discrepancy between actual and desired working hours in a multinational setting. Using the latest data of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) with a focus on work orientations hours constraints in 21 heterogeneous countries are analyzed. One major finding is that hours constraints are interrelated with macroeconomic variables such as (i) unemployment rates, (ii) GDP per capita as a measure of welfare, (iii) average weekly work hours, and (iv) income inequality. A subsequent multivariate analysis reveals that, on both macro- and microlevels, sociodemographic variables like prosperity and income, high risk of unemployment, and working conditions play an important role in determining working hours constraints. The results further suggest that, with respect to working conditions, such constraints are also affected by gender issues.
Spatial differences in stunting and household agricultural production in South Africa
(re-)examining the links using national panel survey data
(2017) Otterbach, Steffen; Rogan, Michael
One explanation for the increasing prevalence of stunting in South Africa over the past 15 years while other development indicators have improved is that Big Food retail chains have been contributing to a low quality diet across the country, particularly in poor urban households. We thus use nationally representative longitudinal data (2008–2014) to trace 6 years of stunting’s evolution among South African children, adolescents, and young adults aged 0–19, with particular attention to how the prevalence of under-nutrition differs between urban and rural areas and how the drivers of poor nutrition vary spatially. The results of our random-effects logistic regressions on the nutritional impact of household agricultural production suggest that, conditional on household income, subsistence farming is associated with a lower probability of stunting. Even more important, although under-nutrition retains a strong spatial component, once observable differences in living standards are controlled for, the higher tendency for children in deep rural households to suffer from (severe) stunting reverses.
Work hours constraints and health
(2011) Sousa-Poza, Alfonso; Otterbach, Steffen; Bell, David
The issue of whether employees who work more hours than they want to suffer adverse health consequences is important not only at the individual level but also for governmental formation of work time policy. Our study investigates this question by analyzing the impact of the discrepancy between actual and desired work hours on self-perceived health outcomes in Germany and the United Kingdom. Based on nationally representative longitudinal data, our results show that work-hour mismatches (i.e., differences between actual and desired hours) have negative effects on workers´ health. In particular, we show that ?overemployment? ? working more hours than desired - has negative effects on different measures of self-perceived health.
Work time and hours constraints
(2012) Otterbach, Steffen; Sousa-Poza, Alfonso
This thesis aims to draw a comprehensive picture of labor supply hours and the extent and determinants of work hours constraints while pinpointing possible consequences and policy implications of such constraints and highlighting the relevance of individual work time preferences with respect to a meaningful debate on work time issues. Most particularly, it offers a comprehensive analysis of how the consideration of individually preferred work hours and the discrepancy between these and actual work hours can foster an understanding of individual labor market participation decisions. What insights, for example, do individual preferences for work hours provide for successful policy implementation if policy makers address topics such as the length of the work week, balance between work and family life or the need for more substantive part-time jobs? Likewise, what incentives might lead employers to reduce work hour mismatches? Despite their importance, these issues of work hour preferences and constraints have not yet been adequately considered in the overall debate on work time and labor market policy. Nor has attention been paid to a further pivotal question: how these restrictions affect workers´ health and well-being. To date, there are only a few studies that investigate the meaning of work hours constraints in the context of happiness and well-being in the work place. This thesis, therefore, constitutes the first study for Germany and the United Kingdom on the potential adverse health consequences of being constrained in the choice of number of work hours.