Relative Wages and Job Satisfaction of Migrant Workers: An Economic Perspective Using Data from Japan

Job satisfaction has been modeled as the utility obtained from comparing current jobs to alternatives in economic literature. However, little attention has been paid to migrant workers. Using two measurements of relative wages and sample selection models, this study provides empirical evidence that migrants' job satisfaction in host countries could be affected by their personal or average relative wages in home countries. Furthermore, contrary to previous results regarding native workers, the direct effects of education, a firm's size, and permanent employment contracts on migrants' job satisfaction are negative. This is explained by different employment alternatives outside the firm for migrants and native workers.