Exploring the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment: an instrumental variable approach

The possible role of job satisfaction (JS) on organizational commitment (OC) has been a very important and hotly debated topic among experts. However, existing studies have yielded mixed results potentially due to utilization of small datasets, different methodological designs, estimation techniques that do not control for potential endogeneity between the variables, or a combination of these issues. Using a large matched employer-employee data-set from Britain (WERS2011), we find that increases in employees’ JS positively influence OC. We also show that this relationship holds when an instrumental variable framework (IV ordered probit/IV probit) is adopted to take into account the potential endogeneity of JS. However, throughout the analysis, the IV estimates are smaller in magnitude in comparison to where JS is considered as an exogenous variable. Moreover, utilising a two-stage probit least square (2SPLS) estimator, we support our previous findings i.e. increased JS is likely to lead to enhanced OC, but we also show that greater OC leads to higher levels of JS suggesting that JS and OC are likely to be reciprocally related. Overall, the IV estimates confirm the importance of addressing the endogeneity issue in the analysis of the relationship between JS and OC.