Issp standard Background Variables

TYPORG1 "Type of organisation, for-profit/non-profit"

1. Measurement goal

The aim of variables TYPORG1 and TYPORG2 is to measure (1) whether the goal of the organisation the respondent is working for is for-profit or non-profit, and (2) what the ownership status of this organisation is. By combining these two dimensions, four analytically relevant categories depicting a horizontal division in the labour market can be distinguished.

		TYPORG1
		For-profit	Non-profit
TYPORG2	Public	1	2
	Private	3	4

TYPORG1 deals with the main goal of the organisation the respondent is working for. “For- profit” refers to material profit, understood as a gain for the benefit of the owners of the business. Organisations which generate revenue, but use this to subsidise a designated organisational purpose other than the owners’ profit, are counted as non-profit organisations. Thus, economic activities of charitable, scientific, political, or environmental organisations, etc. should not be understood as for-profit economic activities.

State-owned companies or collectively owned organisations such as cooperatives will in contrast often be for-profit organisations – if the main goal is material profit.