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Release Date 10.11.2025

 ECONOMIC THEORY

 

 

Soboleva Irina

Doctor of Economics, Chief Researcher, Head of the Centre of Development of Human Potential

Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3049-7789

 

Chernykh Ekaterina

PhD in Economics, Leading Research Worker of the Department of Employment Policy and Social and Labor Relations at the Centre of Development of Human Potential

Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6970-487X

 

WORK-RELATED WELL-BEING: A CONCEPT AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO MEASUREMENT

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The article provides a critical analysis of approaches to investigating personal situation in the sphere of labor. It is shown that in the context of today when the employer-employee relations become increasingly more sophisticated and flexible traditional job quality indicators focusing mainly on compliance with established standards in the field of income and framework conditions of employment do not sufficiently reflect the multifaceted realities of the new labor market realities. Hence, there is a growing demand for rethinking the methodology of its assessment. The strong sides and weaknesses of approaches from the standpoint of the objectivistic quality of employment concept and the subjective well-being concept are identified, and a conclusion is made about the need for an integrative approach that takes into account both the objective parameters of employment and their compliance with individual preferences and needs of employees. Theoretical models developed in line with this approach are considered, such as the «Job Demands-Resources» model, the «Vitamins» model, as well as the approach from the point of view of the opportunities open to an individual in the sphere of employment, based on the concept of functional capabilities of A. Sen.  Pushing off generalization of the models discussed, the expediency of assessing individual situation in the sphere of labor based on the concept of work-related well-being is substantiated. It is shown that this concept incorporates both the objective parameters of working life quality and the instrumental usefulness of employment, as well as self-assessment by employees of their situation in the sphere of labor. Moreover, it allows assessing the compliance of individual characteristics of employees and the job requirements. The importance of integrating into the methodological apparatus elements of the adaptive rationalization concept, according to which the holders of objectively unfavorable jobs may perceive their employment as acceptable, which distorts the real picture of their well-being is emphasized. Finally, we elaborate methodology for constructing work-related well-being profiles, which is based upon aspect-by-aspect comparison of its objective and subjective micro-level indicators. It is shown that the application of our methodology allows obtaining a comprehensive picture of the situation of the working population in the Russian economy, identifying vulnerable groups of workers, and substantiating priority areas for state intervention and employers' initiatives aimed at promoting an integrated human-oriented approach in the sphere of labor.

 

Keywords: work-related well-being, quality of employment, subjective well-being, job satisfaction, integrative approach, adaptive rationalization, work-related well-being indicators

JEL: J21, J28, J31, J33, J63, J81

UDC: 331.1, 331.5, 331.91, 331.45

DOI: 10.52342/2587-7666VTE_2025_4_7_19

 

©  I. Soboleva, E. Chernykh, 2025

© Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences «Issues of Theoretical Economics», 2025

 

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[1] Guriev S.M. — included in the list of foreign agents by the Russian Ministry of Justice.

  

Manuscript submission date:  01.08.2025

Manuscript acceptance date: 06.09.2025

 

For citation:

Soboleva I., Chernykh E. Work-Related Well-Being: a Concept and Methodological Approaches to Measurement // Voprosy teoreticheskoy ekonomiki. 2025. No. 4. Pp. 7-19. DOI: 10.52342/2587-7666VTE_2025_4_7_19