Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.5559/di.23.4.01
The Perceived Quality of Working Life in Croatia and the European Union
Branimir Šverko
orcid.org/0000-0001-5710-0975
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zagreb
Zvonimir Galić
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zagreb
Abstract
This study explores the perceived quality of working life (QWL)
in Croatia and in two groups of EU countries: the EU17, which
comprises established market economies of Western Europe,
and the EU10, which consists of ten Central and Eastern
European (CEE) countries. The analysis draws upon the
database of the Fifth European Working Conditions Survey, the
fieldwork for which was carried out in 2010. The number of
participants was 24,424 in the EU17, 10,948 in the EU10, and
1,100 in the Croatian sample. Four dimensions have been
constructed to measure the QWL: (1) economic security, (2)
social relations at work, (3) meaningfulness of work, and (4)
autonomy and participation in making decisions. The results
show that the CEE countries lag behind the Western European
countries, in particular in economic security. In a hierarchical
cluster analysis the two groups are bundled together in
separate clusters, indicating that a pronounced East-West divide
in quality of working life continues to exist. Croatia, although
with relatively high ratings on social relations, clusters together
with the other transitional countries.
Keywords
quality of working life; job quality; cross-national comparison; the European Union; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
133943
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2014.
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