ILPC 2027

Many scholars, business leaders, policymakers, and advocates have embraced the importance of worker well-being. But there are numerous perspectives on what worker well-being actually is, how to measure it, whether it needs improving, and, if needed, how to improve it. This presentation will use an original framework of nine conceptualizations of work to uncover the importance of how we think about work for how we think about worker well-being. Each conceptualization represents an important way of thinking about work within one or more academic disciplines, and each forms a foundation for a paradigmatic approach to analyzing all aspects of work, including worker well-being. For example, psychologists tend to see work as a source personal fulfillment, so worker well-being is seen as a subjective measure of satisfaction and self-esteem. When work is seen as occupational citizenship, in contrast, the importance of human dignity means that worker well-being should include a mandated set of objective minimum standards and rights. Economists, however, see work as disutility, and this then implies that well-being is derived from consumption and leisure, not work. By being more explicit about these conceptual foundations, we can better understand and debate alternative perspectives on worker well-being.