'Is a job a job? If you looked at unemployment data, you would think so. But economists since Adam Smith know that jobs differ in quality: difficulty or pleasure of doing it. Thus they tend to assume that market would equalize wage per unit of difficulty of a job, and that they do not need to worry about intrinsic job quality. Rafael de Bustillo shows that this wrong and that in an era of plenty for many (although not for all), the challenge is to create high-quality jobs and to find ways of comparing them in terms of fulfillment afforded to workers. The book thus addresses a new and growing field of study: for it certainly matters if we are happy or unhappy in an activity that takes almost one-third of our lives and often defines who we are.'
- Branko Milanovic, World Bank and University of Maryland, US

'This is a book every labour economist or sociologist interested in job quality should read. It provides a well written overview of the depth and breadth of this field, presenting a systematic review of this complex multidimensional concept and discussing more than twenty of the indicators currently in use. The volume goes beyond the current literature by developing a sound, empirically tested Job Quality Index for the European Union. It was definitely a pleasure reading this volume.'
- Kea Tijdens, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Mainstream economics traditionally restricts the analysis of the labour market to purely monetary factors, such as earnings, leaving aside many other characteristics which might affect the desirability of certain jobs. By contrast, this original book aims to explore the alternatives and problems faced by researchers in quantifying and measuring a broader notion of job quality. The main objective is to analyze the different approaches to measurement and to analyze both the advantages and disadvantages of the various methods within a European context. Specifically, the book presents a unique new index of job quality and applies it to the EU Member States.

Contents: 1. Introduction. What it is Not Measured, Does Not Exist: The Importance of Having a Reliable Indicator of Job Quality; 2. What Makes a Good Job? Accounting for the Different Dimensions of Quality of Work; 3. Measurement Problems and Data Sources; 4. Mapping the Terrain: Review of Existent Indicators of Job Quality; 5. The Construction of a European Job Quality Index; 6. Making Concepts Work: Job Quality in Europe; 7. Conclusions; References