For income or for recognition: a comparative study of happiness among employees in state-owned and private enterprises

In China, state-owned enterprises (SOE) and private enterprises represent the two main sectors absorbing labor. While previous studies have extensively examined differences between these two types of enterprises in terms of market performance and human resource management, little attention has been paid to differences in employee well-being. Using 3,178 observations from the 2016 wave of the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS), including 555 SOE employees and 2,623 private enterprise employees, this study examines the relationship between enterprise ownership and employee well-being. The results indicate that SOE employees report significantly higher levels of well-being than their counterparts in private enterprises. Heterogeneity analyses further show that this advantage is more pronounced among older workers, as well as in the eastern and central regions of China, and within the secondary and tertiary industries. Mediation analysis suggests that the well-being gap is mainly explained by lower work burnout and stronger perceived work meaningfulness among SOE employees. These findings highlight a significant well-being disparity between employees in SOE and private enterprises and suggest that improving rest rights, job stability, and perceived work meaningfulness may help enhance well-being among employees.