Twenty Years of Work Ethic in Europe: A Multilevel Analysis of the Effect of Economic Security and Education on Work Ethic

The negative correlation between socio-economic indicators and the strength of work ethic at country-level is well documented. However, the mechanisms driving this correlation remain unresolved. Modernization theory implies that a lack of economic security at individual-level increases the priorities for materialistic values, such as the work ethic. Indeed, the work ethic is an essential component of a materialistic value system, as it highlights the importance of hard work, discipline and economic success. However, we argue that even if Inglehart always considered education as an excellent indicator of one’s economic security, there is only weak evidence that the effect of education on a person’s work ethic is due solely to economic security. Drawing on three waves of the Europe Values Study (EVS) and using multilevel modeling, we separately examine the explanatory power of education and economic security on work ethic between 1999 and 2017. The results show that economic security is weakly related with the level of work ethic, while the effect of education is significant and consistent. In discussion, we propose an alternative to modernization theory to explain the evolution of work ethics in Europe.