ABSTRACT
Organizational commitment refers to employees’ dedication and loyalty to the organization they work for. One question raised is whether cross-national differences in this regard are mainly due to work-related factors. There are many studies of the impact of working conditions, but they often differ a great deal as to which work-related characteristics are included. The chapter attempts to specify better which factors are important. Moreover, it brings in some dimensions that have not been considered very much before. They have to do with people’s overall labour market situation; worries about job loss and perceived possibilities about finding another equally good job. To throw light on these issues the analysis makes use of survey data from 2005 and 2015, including 17 countries that participated both years. When work-related indicators are controlled for, national differences do not disappear, although they are sometimes reduced (but the opposite happens as well). There must thus also be other important factors, partly perhaps cultural. As we expected, various indicators of job quality, job satisfaction and employee-management relations turn out to be strongly linked to respondents’ commitment to their employing organization. In addition, the general labour market situation seems to have a role to play. Among other things, being optimistic about other job possibilities is associated with lower organizational commitment.
