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Author: Oswald, Andrew J.
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Artz, Benjamin
Goodall, Amanda H.
Oswald, Andrew J.
Boss Competence and Worker Well-Being
ILR Review 70,2 (March 2017): 419-450.
Also: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0019793916650451
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University
Keyword(s): Job Satisfaction; Modeling, Instrumental Variables; Supervisor Characteristics

Nearly all workers have a supervisor or "boss." Yet little is known about how bosses influence the quality of employees' lives. This study offers new evidence. First, the authors find that a boss's technical competence is the single strongest predictor of a worker's job satisfaction. Second, they demonstrate using longitudinal data, after controlling for fixed-effects, that even if a worker stays in the same job and workplace, a rise in the competence of a supervisor is associated with an improvement in the worker's well-being. Third, the authors report a variety of robustness checks, including tentative instrumental variable results. These findings, which draw on U.S. and British data, contribute to an emerging literature on the role of "expert leaders" in organizations.
Bibliography Citation
Artz, Benjamin, Amanda H. Goodall and Andrew J. Oswald. "Boss Competence and Worker Well-Being." ILR Review 70,2 (March 2017): 419-450.