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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2011‒04‒23
four papers chosen by |
| By: | Andrew E. Clark (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor - IZA, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris) |
| Abstract: | The role of money in producing sustained subjective well-being seems to be seriously compromised by social comparisons and habituation. But does that necessarily mean that we would be better off doing something else instead? This paper suggests that the phenomena of comparison and habituation are actually found in a variety of economic and social activities, rendering conclusions regarding well-being policy less straightforward. |
| Keywords: | comparison ; habituation ; income ; unemployment ; marriage ; divorce ; health ; religion ; policy |
| Date: | 2011–04–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00586049&r=hap |
| By: | Andrew E. Clark (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor - IZA, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris); Andreas Knabe (OvGU - Otto-von-Guericke - University Magdeburg - University Magdeburg, CESifo - CESifo); Steffen Rätzel (OvGU - Otto-von-Guericke - University Magdeburg - University Magdeburg) |
| Abstract: | The social norm of unemployment suggests that aggregate unemployment reduces the well-being of the employed, but has a far smaller effect on the unemployed. We use German panel data to reproduce this standard result, but then suggest that the appropriate distinction may not be between employment and unemployment, but rather between higher and lower levels of labour-market security. Those with good job prospects, both employed and unemployed, are strongly negatively affected by regional unemployment. However, the insecure employed and the poor-prospect unemployed are less negatively, or even positively, affected. We use our results to analyse labour-market inequality and unemployment hysteresis. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, externalities, job insecurity, well-being |
| Date: | 2011–04–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00586022&r=hap |
| By: | Luis Diaz-Serrano (Universitat Rovira i Virgili and CREIP); Andrés Rodríguez-Pose (London School of Economics and IMDEA Social Sciences Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses whether the different powers and resources at the disposal of local and regional governments across Europe deliver greater satisfaction with political institutions and lead to greater personal happiness. The analysis uses microdata from the four available waves of the European social survey (2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008), including more than 160,000 observations of individuals living in 29 European countries. Our results reveal that political and fiscal decentralization have a positive and significant effect on individuals' overall happiness. Fiscal decentralization also exerts a significant effect on the level of satisfaction with political and economic institutions and with the education and health systems, whereas the effect of political decentralization on these variables is more limited. The results show that citizens seem to be happier with the actual capacity of their local governments to deliver than with the general principle that they can have a say on their daily politics and policies. |
| Keywords: | Happiness; well-being; satisfaction; fiscal and political decentralization; Europe |
| JEL: | H11 H77 |
| Date: | 2011–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imd:wpaper:wp2011-07&r=hap |
| By: | Bhashkar Mazumder; Jonathan Davis |
| Abstract: | We estimate the association between parental earnings and a wide variety of indicators of child well-being using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) matched to administrative earnings records from the Social Security Administration. We find that the use of longer time averages of parent earnings leads to substantially higher estimated effects compared to using only a single year of parent earnings. This suggests that previous studies may have understated the potential efficacy of income support programs to improve child well-being. Further, policy makers should take into account the attenuation bias when comparing studies that use different time spans to measure parental income. Using 7 year time averages of parent earnings, we show for example, that a doubling of parent earnings reduces the probability of a teenager reporting being in poor health by close to 50 percent and a child having insufficient food by 75 percent. |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:11-12&r=hap |