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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2008‒10‒21
nine papers chosen by |
| By: | LourdesBadillo Amador; Angel López Nicolás; Luis E. Vila |
| Abstract: | The effects of job-worker mismatches on job satisfaction are examined using the eight waves (1994-2001) of Spanish data taken from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). The impacts of both educational and skill mismatches are estimated considering unobserved heterogeneity, state dependence and attrition bias. Dynamic analysis shows that skill mismatches emerge as a much better predictor of job satisfaction than educational mismatches as the effects of the latter are related to unobserved heterogeneity among workers. Moreover, the current level of job satisfaction appears to be influenced by workers' previous job perceptions, suggesting a dynamic structure for job satisfaction. |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2008-32&r=hap |
| By: | Gerald A. Carlino; Albert Saiz |
| Abstract: | The City Beautiful movement, which in the early 20th century advocated city beautification as a way to improve the living conditions and civic virtues of the urban dweller, had languished by the Great Depression. Today, new urban economic theorists and policymakers are coming to see the provision of consumer leisure amenities as a way to attract population, especially the highly skilled and their employers. However, past studies have provided only indirect evidence of the importance of leisure amenities for urban development. In this paper we propose and validate the number of leisure trips to metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) as a measure of consumers' revealed preferences for local leisure-oriented amenities. Population and employment growth in the 1990s was about 2 percent higher in an MSA with twice as many leisure visits: the third most important predictor of recent population growth in standardized terms. Moreover, this variable does a good job of forecasting out-of-sample growth for the period 2000-2006. “Beautiful cities” disproportionally attracted highly educated individuals and experienced faster housing price appreciation, especially in supply-inelastic markets. Investment by local government in new public recreational areas within an MSA was positively associated with higher subsequent city attractiveness. In contrast to the generally declining trends in the American central city, neighborhoods that were close to “central recreational districts” have experienced economic growth, albeit at the cost of minority displacement. |
| Keywords: | Cities and towns |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:08-22&r=hap |
| By: | Guillermo Cruces Author-X-Name_First: Guillermo Author-X-Name_Last: Cruces; Andres Ham Author-X-Name_First: Andres Author-X-Name_Last: Ham; Martin Tetaz Author-X-Name_First: Martin Author-X-Name_Last: Tetaz |
| Abstract: | This paper studies quality of life in urban neighborhoods in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area. First, hedonic price regressions for residential prices are augmented with neighborhood characteristics, based on a real estate database with indicators on each property’s distance to public facilities and amenities, and on a smaller survey with greater detail. Second, following recent developments in the field of happiness research, the document assesses the importance of different neighborhood characteristics on quality of life by interacting objective and subjective indicators. Indices of quality of life related to local amenities are derived for the different neighborhoods for both the hedonic regression and life satisfaction approaches. The results indicate a strong but not perfect correlation between real estate prices, income levels and neighborhood characteristics, suggesting scope for welfare-improving policy interventions. |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:3260&r=hap |
| By: | Christoph Wunder |
| Abstract: | This article holds the view that intertemporal comparisons of subjective well-being measures are only meaningful when the underlying standards of judgment are unaltered. This is a weak point of such measures. The study investigates the change in the satisfaction judgments resulting from adaptation to income over time. Adaptation is defined to be desensitization (sensitization) to the hedonic effect of income resulting from an upward (downward) adjustment of the standards. A framework is introduced that provides empirical estimates for the rate of adaptation using data from the Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP). |
| Keywords: | Adaptation, financial satisfaction, subjective well-being, standards of judgment |
| JEL: | C23 I31 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp130&r=hap |
| By: | Böckerman, Petri; Ilmakunnas, Pekka; Jokisaari, Markku; Vuori, Jukka |
| Abstract: | The paper examines the antecedents of intentions to quit, job search, and actual job switches during a five-year follow-up period. We use a representative random sample of all Finnish employees (N = 2800). The data both contain information on intentions to quit and on-the-job search from a cross-section survey and records employees’ actual job switches from longitudinal register data that can be linked to the survey. Specifically, we study the contribution of adverse working conditions (harms, hazards, uncertainty, physically and mentally heavy work), work organization (promotion prospects, discrimination, supervisor support) and ease-of-movement factors (mental health, wage level, regional unemployment). According to the estimates, adverse working conditions, poor promotions prospects, discrimination, poor supervisor support and mental health symptoms are positively related to unwillingly staying in a job, since these variables increase the probability of turnover intentions or job search but not actual job switches. |
| Keywords: | Quit intentions; job search; job separation |
| JEL: | J62 J63 J00 |
| Date: | 2008–10–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11066&r=hap |
| By: | Giorgina Piani Author-X-Name_First: Giorgina Author-X-Name_Last: Piani; Zuleika Ferre Author-X-Name_First: Zuleika Author-X-Name_Last: Ferre; Nestor Gandelman Author-X-Name_First: Nestor Author-X-Name_Last: Gandelman |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes various dimensions of the quality of life in Montevideo. The paper finds that satisfaction with various public goods and services at the neighborhood level play a minor role in the overall reported well-being of individuals and in the satisfaction of life domains, such as leisure, social life, family, health, housing, neighborhood economic situation and work. This is in spite the fact that there are significant disparities in a wide range of indicators among those living in different areas of the city. The results further suggest that differences in overall happiness and in domain satisfaction are mostly due to differences in individual outcomes like education, health, labor situation and housing quality. |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:3262&r=hap |
| By: | Lorena Alcazar Author-X-Name_First: Lorena Author-X-Name_Last: Alcazar; Raul Andrade Author-X-Name_First: Raul Author-X-Name_Last: Andrade |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the results of the estimations of a quality of life (QoL) index focusing on three dimensions: individual factors, urban factors, and civil society. The study was mainly based on information collected through a survey applied in three districts of Lima: La Victoria, Los Olivos and Villa El Salvador. These districts are relatively similar in terms of income, although Villa El Salvador has a larger percentage of poor households. The results show that various indicators have different impacts on QoL. Two findings stand out. First, variables related to participation in civil society are statistically significant in all specifications used. Second, in La Victoria and Los Olivos, QoL is determined largely by indicators in the individual sphere, while the civil society sphere is more important in Villa El Salvador. These results are consistent with the collective action tradition of the Villa El Salvador district and with the market pattern of growth of Los Olivos. |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:3261&r=hap |
| By: | Pilon, André Francisco |
| Abstract: | Quality of life, natural and man-made environments, physical, social and mental well-being are currently undermined by all sorts of hazards and injuries; political, economical, social and cultural disarray normalise atrocious behaviours and violence throughout the world. Considering the multiple problems of difficult settlement or solution in our times, current environmental, social, cultural, educational, political and economic policies and practices are examined in view of new paradigms of growth, power, wealth, work and freedom. A multidimensional ecosystemic approach and planning model for the diagnosis and prognosis of quality of life integrate into a dynamic configuration four dimensions of being-in-the- world (intimate, interactive, social and biophysical), as they induce the events (deficits and assets), cope with consequences (desired or undesired) and reorganise for change, enhancing connexions and sealing ruptures. Development and evaluation of teaching programmes, research projects and public policies benefit from a deep understanding of the events, providing a critical comprehensive four-dimensional framework and planning model for effective and responsible action. |
| Keywords: | education; culture; public policies; environment; ecosystems |
| JEL: | Q56 O21 Q58 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:10816&r=hap |
| By: | Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro Author-X-Name_First: Rebecca Author-X-Name_Last: Weitz-Shapiro; Matthew S. Winters Author-X-Name_First: Matthew S. Author-X-Name_Last: Winters |
| Abstract: | Theoretical literatures on procedural utility and the psychological benefits of political participation suggest that people who participate in political activities will be more satisfied with their lives because of the resulting feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness. Individual-level data from Latin America show—in one dataset under study but not in another—a positive and statistically significant relationship between voting and life satisfaction. Variation in desire to vote as measured in Costa Rica, however, suggests that the causal arrow may run from happiness to voting. The use of multilevel models further reveals a consistent—but untheorized—cross-country negative relationship between enforced compulsory voting and happiness. Only preliminary results are found regarding the relationship between some other forms of political participation and life satisfaction. |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:4583&r=hap |