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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2007‒08‒14
six papers chosen by |
| By: | Oscar D. Marcenaro-Gutiérrez (Universidad de Málaga); Mariano Luque Gallego (Universidad de Málaga); Francisco Ruiz de la Rúa (Universidad de Málaga) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, a multiobjective scheme is used to study the satisfaction levels of the Spanish workers. Data obtained from a panel survey conducted in several European countries are used to build up a multiobjective model, on the basis of a previous statistical and econometric analysis of these data. Then, a Reference Point based method is implemented to determine the profile of the most satisfied worker in Spain nowadays. Finally, a combined Goal Programming – Reference Point approach is used to determine policies than can be carried out in order to increase the workers’ satisfaction levels. |
| Keywords: | Workers’ Satisfaction, Econometric analyses, Multiobjective Programming. |
| JEL: | J28 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cea:doctra:e2007_11&r=hap |
| By: | Andrea Brandolini |
| Abstract: | The multidimensional view of human well-being has a growing influence on research on inequality and poverty. This development owes much to the conceptualisation of the “capability approach” by Sen (1985, 1987), but the shift has not been confined to academic circles and has extended to policy-oriented analysis. The United Nations Development Programme has challenged since 1990 the primacy of GDP per capita as the measure of progress by proposing the Human Development Index (HDI), which combines income with life expectancy and educational achievement (e.g. UNDP, 2005). The World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty opened with the statement that: “This report accepts the now traditional view of poverty... |
| Keywords: | income distribution, inequality trends |
| JEL: | D31 |
| Date: | 2007–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpc:wplist:wp07_07&r=hap |
| By: | Andrea Brandolini; Timothy M. Smeeding |
| Abstract: | The multidimensional view of human well-being has a growing influence on research on inequality and poverty. This development owes much to the conceptualisation of the “capability approach” by Sen (1985, 1987), but the shift has not been confined to academic circles and has extended to policy-oriented analysis. The United Nations Development Programme has challenged since 1990 the primacy of GDP per capita as the measure of progress by proposing the Human Development Index (HDI), which combines income with life expectancy and educational achievement (e.g. UNDP, 2005). The World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty opened with the statement that: “This report accepts the now traditional view of poverty... |
| Keywords: | income distribution, inequality trends |
| JEL: | D31 |
| Date: | 2007–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpc:wplist:wp08_07&r=hap |
| By: | Maria Laura Di Tommaso; I. Shima; S. Strøm; F. Bettio |
| Abstract: | The International Organization for Migration has collected data on trafficked individuals. The aim of this paper is to use the sub-sample of sexually exploited women in order to explore the relationship between their well being deprivation, their personal characteristics, and their working locations. We use the theoretical framework of the capability approach to conceptualize well being deprivation and we estimate a MIMIC (Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes) model. The utilized indicators measure abuse, freedom of movement, and access to medical care. This model also allows us to estimate the effects of some covariates on this measure of well being. |
| Keywords: | Structural equation models, well being, capability approach, trafficking, Eastern and Western European countries |
| JEL: | J16 C35 I32 O15 |
| Date: | 2007–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpc:wplist:wp10_07&r=hap |
| By: | Graziella Bertocchi |
| Abstract: | We offer a rationale for the decision to extend the franchise to women within a politico-economic model where men are richer than women, women display a higher preference for public goods, and women’s disenfranchisement carries a societal cost. We first derive the tax rate chosen by the male median voter when women are disenfranchised. Next we show that, as industrialization raises the reward to mental labor relative to physical labor, women’s relative wage increases. When the cost of disenfranchisement becomes higher than the cost of the higher tax rate which applies under universal enfranchisement, the male median voter is better off extending the franchise to women. A consequent expansion of the size of government is only to be expected in societies with a relatively high cost of disenfranchisement. We empirically test the implications of the model over the 1870-1930 period. We proxy the gender wage gap with the level of per capita income and the cost of disenfranchisement with the presence of Catholicism, which is associated with a more traditional view of women’s role and thus a lower cost. The gender gap in the preferences for public goods is proxied by the availability of divorce, which implies marital instability and a more vulnerable economic position for women. Consistently with the model’s predictions, women suffrage is affected positively by per capita income and negatively by the presence of Catholicism and the availability of divorce, while women suffrage increases the size of government only in non-Catholic countries. |
| Keywords: | women suffrage, inequality, public goods, welfare state, culture, family, divorce |
| JEL: | P16 J16 N40 H50 |
| Date: | 2007–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpc:wplist:wp15_07&r=hap |
| By: | Dorothy Watson (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)); Christopher T. Whelan (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)); Bertrand Maître (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)) |
| Date: | 2007–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp201&r=hap |