TY - JOUR
T1 - Job quality in the Economy for the Common Good
T2 - conceptualisation and implementation in Austria and Germany
AU - Ollé-Espluga, Laia
AU - Muckenhuber, Johanna
AU - Hadler, Markus
PY - 2020/7
Y1 - 2020/7
N2 - The Economy for the Common Good (ECG) is an Austrian-born movement promoting an alternative economic model built on values oriented to the common welfare such as human dignity, solidarity, ecological sustainability, social justice, transparency and democratic participation. To provide (high) quality of work plays an important role in the ECG philosophy but little is known on the actual labour conditions of workers employed in such type of firms and whether they differ from those of firms in the "regular" default economy. In this paper we focus on Austria and Germany, the countries where this economic model is most widespread, and present results on the general structure of firms following the ECG model and the working and employment conditions in these firms. We identify three main dimensions of job quality promoted by the ECG model, namely employment quality, information and worker participation, and psychosocial working conditions. Using data published in the Common Good Reports, we extracted data informing about these dimensions of job quality at an organisational level of 59 firms with at least 5 employees in Austria and Germany. We discuss which work-related features are promoted by organisations following the ECG model and compare them to the standards encouraged by the model. Results are also discussed with respect to evidence on the quality of work in the social economy.
AB - The Economy for the Common Good (ECG) is an Austrian-born movement promoting an alternative economic model built on values oriented to the common welfare such as human dignity, solidarity, ecological sustainability, social justice, transparency and democratic participation. To provide (high) quality of work plays an important role in the ECG philosophy but little is known on the actual labour conditions of workers employed in such type of firms and whether they differ from those of firms in the "regular" default economy. In this paper we focus on Austria and Germany, the countries where this economic model is most widespread, and present results on the general structure of firms following the ECG model and the working and employment conditions in these firms. We identify three main dimensions of job quality promoted by the ECG model, namely employment quality, information and worker participation, and psychosocial working conditions. Using data published in the Common Good Reports, we extracted data informing about these dimensions of job quality at an organisational level of 59 firms with at least 5 employees in Austria and Germany. We discuss which work-related features are promoted by organisations following the ECG model and compare them to the standards encouraged by the model. Results are also discussed with respect to evidence on the quality of work in the social economy.
KW - Austria
KW - Economy for the Common Good
KW - job quality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088958210&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.7203/CIRIEC-E.99.16080
DO - 10.7203/CIRIEC-E.99.16080
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85088958210
SN - 0213-8093
SP - 177
EP - 202
JO - CIRIEC-Espana: Revista de Economia Publica, Social y Cooperativa
JF - CIRIEC-Espana: Revista de Economia Publica, Social y Cooperativa
IS - 99
ER -