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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2010‒01‒10
ten papers chosen by |
| By: | Eva M. Berger; C. Katharina Spieß |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the association between maternal life satisfaction and the developmental functioning of two- to three-year-old children as well as the socio-emotional behavior of five- to six-year-old children. We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), which allows us to control for a rich set of child and parental characteristics and to use the mother’s life satisfaction before the birth of her child as an instrument to eliminate potential reverse causality. The results indicate that the more satisfied the mother, the better her child’s verbal skills and the lower his or her socio-emotional problems. The relation is more pronounced for boys than for girls. The results are robust even when mothers’ personality or mothers’ cognitive skills are controlled for. |
| Keywords: | Life satisfaction, subjective well-being, mothers, children, child development, skill formation, instrumental variable |
| JEL: | J13 I22 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp242&r=hap |
| By: | Duha T. Altindag; Junyue Xu |
| Abstract: | This paper demonstrates that institutional factors influence the subjective well-being of individuals differently in rich versus poor countries. A lower level of corruption, a more democratic government and better civil rights increase the well-being of individuals in rich countries, whereas an increase in per capita income has no impact. On the contrary, in poor countries the extent of corruption, democracy and civil rights have no influence on happiness, but an increase in per capita income impacts happiness positively. This stark contrast may be due to the difference of preferences over income and institutional factors. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsu:lsuwpp:2009-17&r=hap |
| By: | Cahit Guven; Claudia Senik; Holger Stichnoth |
| Abstract: | This paper asks whether the gap in subjective happiness between spouses matters per se, i.e. whether it predicts divorce. We use three panel databases to explore this question. Controlling for the level of life satisfaction of spouses, we find that a higher satisfaction gap, even in the first year of marriage, increases the likelihood of a future separation. We interpret this as the effect of comparisons of well-being between spouses, i.e. aversion to unequal sharing of wellbeing inside couples. To our knowledge, this effect has never been taken into account by existing economic models of the household. The relation between happiness gaps and divorce may be due to the fact that couples which are unable to transfer utility are more at risk than others. It may also be the case that assortative mating in terms of happiness baseline-level reduces the risk of separation. However, we show that assortative mating is not the end of the story. First, our results hold in fixed-effects estimates that take away the effect of the initial quality of the match between spouses: fixed-effects estimates suggest that a widening of the happiness gap over time raises the risk of separation. Second, we uncover an asymmetry in the effect of happiness gaps: couples are more likely to break-up when the difference in life satisfaction is unfavourable to the wife. The information available in the Australian survey reveals that divorces are indeed predominantly initiated by women, and importantly, by women who are unhappier than their husband. Hence, happiness gaps seem to matter to spouses, not only because they reflect a mismatch in terms of baseline happiness, but because they matter as such. |
| Keywords: | divorce, happiness, comparisons, panel, households, marriage |
| JEL: | J12 D13 D63 D64 H31 I31 Z13 |
| Date: | 2009–12–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dkn:econwp:eco_2009_19&r=hap |
| By: | Hinks, Timothy |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first to estimate job satisfaction equations in post-Apartheid South Africa. Earnings and relative earnings are both found to contribute to greater job satisfaction. Racial group is also an important predictor of job satisfaction but when interacted with a proxy for affirmative action legislation it is found that black job satisfaction is positively correlated with this legislation whereas coloured and to a lesser extent white job satisfaction is diminished. |
| Keywords: | Job satisfaction; Employment Equity; ordered probit; South Africa |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eid:wpaper:23/09&r=hap |
| By: | Abul Naga, Ramses; Lamiraud, K |
| Abstract: | According to the catastrophic health expenditure methodology a house- hold is in catastrophe if its health out-of-pocket budget share exceeds a critical threshold. We develop a conceptual framework for addressing three questions in relation to this methodology, namely: 1. Can a budget share be informative about the sign of a change in welfare? 2. Is there a positive association between a households poverty shortfall and its health out-of- pocket budget share? 3. Does an increase in population coverage of a health insurance scheme always result in a reduction of the prevalence of catastrophic expenditures? |
| Keywords: | Catastrophic health expenditure; welfare change; poverty; performance of health insurance schemes |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eid:wpaper:3/09&r=hap |
| By: | Davies, Simon; Hinks, Timothy |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eid:wpaper:9/09&r=hap |
| By: | Sheila Marnie; Leonardo Menchini; Luca Tiberti |
| Abstract: | After two decades of transition the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States face an increasingly diverse mix of old and new policy challenges to improving child well-being and realizing children’s rights. While attempts have been made to reflect these challenges and diversities by constructing indices of child wellbeing, which measure and rank overall performance by individual countries, this paper proposes a simplified approach which examines five different dimensions of child wellbeing separately, using several indicators for each dimension which allow cross-country comparison. The dimensions included in the analysis are income, health, education, housing and deprivation of parental up-bringing. The results highlight a divergence of child well-being priorities in the selected dimensions for the different countries and for different age groups of children. The analysis shows that in the 2000-2008 period the situation of children improved in absolute terms in almost all dimensions in all countries, but that government interventions still face difficulties in reaching all children, and that across the region there are increasing differences in the character of problems facing the more vulnerable sections of the child population. The discussion shows that it is difficult to rank countries according to an overall level of child well-being, since performance varies significantly according to the choice of dimension or indicator considered. An overall index cannot therefore capture the open challenges, and indeed may distract policy attention away from them. The approach used in this paper shows that each country faces challenges which can be tackled only if they are monitored and fully understood with clear and meaningful indicators, analyzed individually and in their interaction. |
| Keywords: | child poverty; child protection; child well-being; education; health; housing; transitional economies; |
| JEL: | P3 P36 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucf:inwopa:inwopa581&r=hap |
| By: | Laura H. Lippman; Kristin Anderson Moore; Hugh McIntosh |
| Abstract: | This paper highlights a number of frameworks for positive indicator development which examine the positive well-being of children. Based upon this review, it suggests a new comprehensive framework which identifies constructs for positive well-being as well as potential indicators and extant measures that fit with those constructs. In addition, the paper reviews existing data sources for examples of positive measures that are found in the proposed framework as well as research studies that have been successful in measuring these indicators. The paper then notes the data and measurement gaps that exist in comprehensively measuring the positive in children and youth. Finally, it identifies a number of conceptual and methodological issues that need consideration as efforts to define and measure positive indicators of well-being and well-becoming go forward. |
| Keywords: | child development; child well-being; indicators; |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucf:inwopa:inwopa580&r=hap |
| By: | Jan Fagerberg (Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo); Martin Srholec (Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the possibility that technological capabilities, to lead to development, need to be accompanied by a broader set of “social capabilities”, reflecting not only the quality of governance but also the spread of values, beliefs and institutions that encourage members of society to actively contribute to the development process. To investigate this issue, a set of empirical indicators, reflecting the capabilities that have been emphazised in the literature as being important for development, was identified. We also take into account the possibility that these capabilities (and their impact) may be conditioned by historically given factors (related to, for example, geography, demography and history). The paper uses factor analysis to analyse the question of how these indicators interrelate and explores their relationship with economic development. We find that technological and social capabilities are indeed strongly related and, moreover, strongly correlated with economic development. The same does not apply for the second factor suggested by the analysis, which mainly reflects the character of countries’ political systems. Thus it is more important economically what countries do than how they decide on it. A strong negative relationship with development was found for the third factor, reflecting the combined effect of high fertility rates, low education and high frequency of serious disease. Arguably, this contributes to a “vicious circle” that makes it difficult for some very poor countries, especially in the tropics, to escape from poverty. |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tik:inowpp:20091218&r=hap |
| By: | Klein, Alexander (Department of Economics, University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the rural-urban migration of families in the Bohemian region of Pilsen in 1900. Using a new 1300-family dataset from the 1900 population census I examine the role of children‘s education in rural-urban migration. I find that families migrated to the city such that the educational attainment of their children would be maximized and that there is a positive correlation between family migration and children being apprentices in urban areas. The results suggest that rural-urban migration was powered not only by the exploitation of rural-urban wage gaps but also by aspirations to engage in human capital investment. |
| Keywords: | migration ; human capital investment ; family decision-making |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:warwec:923&r=hap |