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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2009‒09‒05
sixteen papers chosen by |
| By: | Cicowiez, Martin; Diaz-Bonilla, Carolina; Diaz-Bonilla, Eugenio |
| Keywords: | Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:wbadwp:52793&r=hap |
| By: | de Souza Ferreira Filho, Joaquim Bento; Horridge, Mark |
| Keywords: | Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:wbadwp:52795&r=hap |
| By: | Cororaton, Caesar B.; Corong, Erwin; Cockburn, John |
| Keywords: | Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:wbadwp:52790&r=hap |
| By: | Warr, Peter |
| Keywords: | Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:wbadwp:52791&r=hap |
| By: | Sanchez, Marco V.; Vos, Rob |
| Keywords: | Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:wbadwp:52796&r=hap |
| By: | Anderson, Kym; Valenzuela, Ernesto; Van Der Mensbrugghe, Dominique |
| Keywords: | Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:wbadwp:52785&r=hap |
| By: | Hertel, Thomas W.; Keeney, Roman |
| Keywords: | Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:wbadwp:52786&r=hap |
| By: | Arndt, Channing; Thurlow, James |
| Keywords: | Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:wbadwp:52794&r=hap |
| By: | Warr, Peter |
| Keywords: | Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:wbadwp:52788&r=hap |
| By: | Stephen Jenkins; Richard Burkhauser; Shuaizhang Feng; Jeff Larrimore |
| Abstract: | To measure income inequality with right censored (topcoded) data, we propose multiple imputation for censored observations using draws from Generalized Beta of the Second Kind distributions to provide partially synthetic datasets analyzed using complete data methods. Estimation and inference uses Reiter’s (Survey Methodology 2003) formulae. Using Current Population Survey (CPS) internal data, we find few statistically significant differences in income inequality for pairs of years between 1995 and 2004. We also show that using CPS public use data with cell mean imputations may lead to incorrect inferences about inequality differences. Multiply-imputed public use data provide an intermediate solution. |
| Keywords: | Income Inequality, Topcoding, Partially Synthetic Data, CPS, Current Population Survey, Generalized Beta of the Second Kind distribution |
| JEL: | D31 C46 C81 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:09-05&r=hap |
| By: | Pivato, Marcus |
| Abstract: | Some social choice models assume that precise interpersonal comparisons of utility (either ordinal or cardinal) are possible, allowing a rich theory of distributive justice. Other models assume that absolutely no interpersonal comparisons are possible, or even meaningful; hence all Pareto-efficient outcomes are equally socially desirable. We compromise between these two extremes, by developing a model of `approximate' interpersonal comparisons of well-being, in terms of an incomplete preorder on the space of psychophysical states. We then define and characterize `approximate' versions of the classical egalitarian and utilitarian social welfare orderings. We show that even very weak assumptions about interpersonal comparability can yield preorders on the space of social alternatives which, while incomplete, are far more complete than the Pareto preorder (e.g. they select relatively small subsets of the Pareto frontier as being `socially optimal'). Along the way, we give sufficient conditions for an incomplete preorder to be representable using a collection of utility functions. We also develop a variant of Harsanyi's Social Aggregation Theorem. |
| Keywords: | interpersonal comparisons of utility; interpersonal comparisons of well-being; social choice; social welfare; approximate egalitarian; approximate utilitarian; Suppes-Sen; utility representations of partial orders; utility representations of preorders |
| JEL: | D81 D63 D70 |
| Date: | 2009–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:17060&r=hap |
| By: | Gambetta, Renzo |
| Abstract: | This note reports information on the income inequality in Peru calculated from Income Household surveys from 2003-2008. Using surveys from the ENAHO published by the National Institute of Statistics, we used as index the household income annualized, it was divided by the total members of each household to compute the inequality indicators. We computed the density of income distribution using nonparametric methods (Kernel) then we used bootstrapping techniques to check the statistic significance of the inequality indexes variation using the K-S and the MWM to test the null hypothesis of no changes in income inequality between the periods. We conclude that the changes in the inequality indexes indeed have been reducing but in very minimal level even though the economic activity (real GDP) grew at sustained rates, 7.3% in average. |
| Keywords: | income distribution; non parametric estimation; bootstrapping |
| JEL: | D31 C15 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:16986&r=hap |
| By: | Hasan, Lubna |
| Abstract: | What explains poverty of Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia? One view holds the disease environment of these regions as the primary culprit. Others see it as a typical symptom of growth retarding institutions. We test validity of these competing assertions for a cross section of countries. Our results indicate that institutions are the prime determinant of economic performance of countries. Disease does not play a significant role in determining outcomes. On the contrary, we find support for the indirect effect of disease via institutions, as asserted by the 'institutions school'. Interestingly, the 'institutions school' contention about geography having no direct effect on income is also not validated. Our results show that being land locked can pose significant disadvantage for a country. Endowment of hydrocarbon, however, is beneficial for economic outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Economic Performance; Institutions; Disease. |
| JEL: | O43 I10 |
| Date: | 2009–08–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:17090&r=hap |
| By: | Georgellis, Yannis; Lange, Thomas |
| Abstract: | Based on data from the European Values Study (EVS), we compare the determinants of job satisfaction and the impact of union membership in Eastern and Western European labor markets. Correcting our regressions for union endogeneity and controlling for individual characteristics, values and beliefs, and important aspects of a job, we find a positive association between unionization and job satisfaction. This is contrary to the dominant view of the impact of unionization on job satisfaction suggesting that there is a strong, negative relationship between the two variables. We also uncover distinct attitudinal differences between Eastern and Western European employees, highlighting persistent influences of former communist labor relations. |
| Keywords: | Unions; job satisfaction; EVS |
| JEL: | M54 J5 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:17020&r=hap |
| By: | Nayak, Purusottam |
| Abstract: | The paper is a brief account of findings of various human development reports published either by UNDP or Govt. of India or by individual state governments on the states of northeast India. The findings reveal that achievement of northeastern region is quite reasonable in comparison to all India average situations in respect of human development indicators for both the sexes but it has miserably failed in bringing commensurate economic growth. There exits wide spread disparity of socioeconomic achievements across different states and from urban to rural areas. In spite of being a tribal belt and in some cases having matrilineal society women are to be at par with that of men. If the problems of poor economic growth, overall development and gender disparities are not properly addressed the region may fall into the trap of vicious quadrant instead of moving to a virtuous one. |
| Keywords: | Human Development; Northeast India |
| JEL: | O2 O4 |
| Date: | 2009–08–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:17015&r=hap |
| By: | Fischer, Justina AV |
| Abstract: | The question whether a socially mobile society is conducive to subjective well-being (SWB) has rarely been investigated. This paper fills this gap by analyzing the SWB effects of intergenerational earnings mobility and equality in educational attainment at the societal level. Using socio-demographic information on 44’000 individuals in 30 OECD countries obtained from the World Values Survey 1997-2001, this study shows that living in a socially mobile society is conducive to individual life satisfaction. Differentiating between perceived and actual social mobility, we find that both exert rather independent effects, particularly in their interplay with income inequality. We identify a positive interaction of perceived social mobility that mitigates the overall SWB lowering effect of income inequality. In contrast to expectations, a high degree of actual social mobility yields an overall impact of income inequality that is SWB lowering, while for low social mobility the effect of inequality is positive. Thus, people bear income inequality more easily when they perceive their society as mobile, but also - surprisingly - when their society is actually rather immobile. These interactions hold stronger for pre-transfer than post-transfer income inequality suggesting that government redistribution disentangles the effect of income inequality from that of social mobility. Robustness using a world sample is tested. |
| Keywords: | Social mobility; Happiness; Well-Being; Life satisfaction; Inequality; Voting; Equal opportunities; Fairness; Justice |
| JEL: | D31 D63 J62 I31 A14 |
| Date: | 2009–09–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:17070&r=hap |