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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2008‒10‒07
five papers chosen by |
| By: | Andrew E. Clark; Nicolai Kristensen; Niels Westergård-Nielsen |
| Abstract: | We contribute to the literature on well-being and comparisons by appealing to new Danish data dividing the country up into around 9000 small neighbourhoods. Administrative data provides us with the income of every person in each of these neighbourhoods. This income information is matched to demographic and economic satisfaction variables from eight years of Danish ECHP data. Panel regression analysis shows that, conditional on own household income, respondents report higher satisfaction levels when their neighbours are richer. However, the individuals are rank-sensitive: conditional on own income and neighbourhood median income, individuals are more satisfied as their percentile neighbourhood ranking improves. A ten percentage point rise in rank (i.e. from 40 th to 20 th position in a 200-household cell) is worth 0.11 on a one to six scale, which is a large marginal effect in satisfaction terms. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pse:psecon:2008-44&r=hap |
| By: | Andrew E. Clark; Andreas Knabe; Steffen Rätzel |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between the subjective well-being of both the employed and unemployed and regional unemployment rates. While employed men suffer from regional unemployment, unemployed men are significantly less negatively affected. This is consistent with a social-norm effect of unemployment in Germany. We find no evidence of such an offsetting effect for women. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pse:psecon:2008-45&r=hap |
| By: | Tindara Addabbo; Gisella Facchinetti; Anna Maccagnan; Giovanni Mastroleo; Tommaso Pirotti |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at measuring the functionings of social interaction, a relevant dimension in the description and conceptualisation of child well being by using the capability approach. In this paper we deal with a special dimension of this capability that involves the capability of interaction between parents and child. We propose a fuzzy expert system to measure this capability. To apply the model we use a data set based on a matched data source of ISTAT (Italian National Statistical Office 1998) multipurpose survey on family and on children condition in Italy to recover information on children’s education, the socio-demographic structure of their families, child care provided by relatives and parents according to the type of activities in which the children are involved and Bank of Italy Survey on household income and wealth year 2000 (SHIW00). This is a first step of a more complex system allowing for a richer set of indicators on capabilities in order to measure child well being. |
| Keywords: | Child Well Being, Fuzzy Expert System, Capabilities |
| JEL: | C1 C6 D6 D3 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:recent:015&r=hap |
| By: | Jürgen Maurer; Roger Klein; Francis Vella (Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA)) |
| Abstract: | We use panel data from the US Health and Retirement Study 1992-2002 to estimate the effect of self-assessed health limitations on active labor market participation of men around retirement age. Self-assessments of health and functioning typically introduce an endogeneity bias when studying the effects of health on labor market participation. This results from justification bias, reflecting an individual’s tendency to provide answers which "justify" his labor market activity, and individual-specific heterogeneity in providing subjective evaluations. We address both concerns. We propose a semiparametric binary choice procedure which incorporates potentially nonadditive correlated individual-specific effects. Our estimation strategy identifies and estimates the average partial effects of health and functioning on labor market participation. The results indicate that poor health and functioning play a major role in the labor market exit decisions of older men. |
| JEL: | I10 J10 J26 C14 C30 |
| Date: | 2008–09–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mea:meawpa:08169&r=hap |
| By: | Tindara Addabbo; Maria Laura Di Tommaso |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the possibilities of using structural equation modelling to measure capabilities of Italian children. In particular the paper focuses on two capabilities: “Senses, Imagination and Thought” and “Leisure and Play Activities ”. The indicators used to measure the capability of ‘Senses, imagination and thought’ for 6-13 years old children are attitude towards education, attendance to arts classes and other type of extra curriculum classes like computing and languages. The variables used as indicators of the capability of “Leisure and play activities” include how often children play in playground, various types of games, attendance to sports classes. We use both descriptive statistics, an ordered probit model, and a structural equation model in order to investigate the relation among the above mentioned indicators, the latent construct for capabilities and a set of covariates. Moreover we use a new data set in order to include family income among the covariates. The data result from the matching (through a propensity score method) of two data sets: Bank of Italy Survey on Income and Wealth for year 2000 and Istat Families, social subjects and childhood condition for year 1998. |
| Keywords: | Education, Capabilities, Child Well Being, Structural Equation Modelling |
| JEL: | I2 C1 J1 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:recent:022&r=hap |