Procedural Utility in the Work Place, Evidence from Mexico

Abstract

The concept of Utility usually refers to the satisfaction a person acquires by consuming, in general under circumstances bonded to income, and the price of goods. In a psychological vision of personal well-being, happiness and its components, consider the fact that people can value anything. This notion has led to the study of Procedural Utility, that means people not only value the outcome of something, but also values the process and conditions in which the outcome is achieved. Procedural Utility can be obtained from various economic procedures in which individuals are part of, e.g. Work and consumption among others. Evidence has been found that in the work place the fact of being attached to hierarchy generates negative Procedural Utility because it disrupts psychological precepts that determine happiness, well-being, or utility [1]. In other cases it has been found that the process on how a wage cut is done must be considered [2]. In the light of this phenomena, I’ll discuss the concept of Procedural Utility and analyze empirical evidence for the Mexican case with “Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografía” INEGI’s self-reported well-being survey (BIARE), with the finality to give suggestions on possible applications of processes to improve the worker’s satisfaction.