How does work-life balance take shape in less regulated economies? A signaling theory perspective

Though a seemingly simple term, there is no consensus on how to operationalize Work-Life Balance (WLB). Understanding of this crucial concept is also limited because research on how WLB is perceived or realized comes mainly from studies in North America or Europe. Consequently, we lack insight into how this phenomenon unfolds in less-regulated economies. We argue that it is precisely in these settings that the absence of a mature governance environment makes the study of WLB even more important. Drawing on signaling theory, which seeks to explain how messages are understood in ambiguous contexts, this paper examines employees’ WLB in a context where formal regulations and policies are sparse. Operationalizing WLB using signaling theory helps to explain the partial success of managing employees’ WLB in the organizations we study: large, Chinese Stated-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). Based on 312 survey responses and 23 supplementary interviews, we show how an emerging concept in the literature - organizational work-life culture - can support positive signaling. This has two important consequences. It may empower some line managers to facilitate employees’ WLB and it can also embolden some employees to ‘push back’ on excessive workload demands. In a context where WLB policy is often ambiguous, we propose and find evidence for a sequential mediating path between organizational work-life culture and WLB. The findings contribute to our understanding of why and how to manage WLB in different contexts.