Effect of Unemployment Duration on Subjective Quality of Employment in Côte d’Ivoire

Abstract

Quality of employment is a current concept in both developed and developing nations. Studies on this subject explore more its objective aspect in relation to their own dimensions. This article examines the subjective nature of this notion in relation to the opinion given by workers on it. The objective is to highlight the impact of unemployment duration on the subjective quality of employment in C ô te d’Ivoire. In pursuing such an objective, the author seeks to perceive whether the duration spent in unemployment is likely to have a positive or negative impact on the perception that workers have of their jobs; this could shed light on the problem of information asymmetry, particularly adverse selection. To measure this impact, the author uses secondary data from the National Survey on the Employment Situation and the Informal Sector (NSESIS) 2016 of the Youth Employment Agency in C ô te d’Ivoire and the National Institute of Statistics (NIS). To correct for a possible selection bias about the choice of workers in the private sector, the author uses “Heckman’s two-step approach”. This involves two modelling exercises. From the first model, the bivariate probit, an inverse of the Mills ratio is generated and introduced into the second model, the binary probit. In order to better perceive the effects of unemployment duration on subjective job quality, the author uses the variable “unemployment duration before obtaining employment” as a control variable. The results show that the duration spent in unemployment has a very significant effect on the perception of employment. Reconsidering the same individuals in the sample with the presence of the control variable, we find that workers tend to view the quality of their jobs positively. This could pose a problem of appreciation even if objectively their jobs are of lower quality.