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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2014‒02‒08
seven papers chosen by |
| By: | Andrew E. Clark (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA)); Conchita D'ambrosio (Université du Luxembourg - Université du Luxembourg); Simone Ghislandi (Università commerciale Luigi Bocconi - Università commerciale Luigi Bocconi) |
| Abstract: | We consider the link between poverty and subjective well-being, and focus in particular on potential adaptation to poverty. We use panel data on almost 45,800 individuals living in Germany from 1992 to 2011 to show first that life satisfaction falls with both the incidence and intensity of contemporaneous poverty. We then reveal that there is little evidence of adaptation within a poverty spell: poverty starts bad and stays bad in terms of subjective well-being. We cannot identify any causes of poverty entry which are unambiguously associated with adaptation to poverty. |
| Keywords: | Income ; Poverty ; Subjective well-being ; SOEP |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00925542&r=hap |
| By: | DECANCQ, Koen; LUGO, Maria Ana |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvrp:-2493&r=hap |
| By: | Andrew E. Clark (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA)); Sarah Flèche (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA)); Claudia Senik (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), UP4 - Université Paris 4, Paris-Sorbonne - Université Paris IV - Paris Sorbonne - Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | In spite of the great U-turn that saw income inequality rise in Western countries in the 1980s, happiness inequality has dropped in countries that have experienced income growth (but not in those that did not). Modern growth has reduced the share of both the "very unhappy" and the "perfectly happy". The extension of public amenities has certainly contributed to this greater happiness homogeneity. This new stylized fact comes as an addition to the Easterlin paradox, offering a somewhat brighter perspective for developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Happiness ; Inequality ; Economic growth ; Development ; Easterlin paradox |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00936145&r=hap |
| By: | Ryan Brown (Duke University) |
| Abstract: | A medical literature that provides biological pathways from maternal stress to adverse birth outcomes, coupled with a growing consensus that birth characteristics are predictive of later life wellbeing, suggest that events that cause psychological trauma during pregnancy may have dire consequences for the next generation. Due to the unexpected nature of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 a random cohort of in utero children where exogenously insulted by increased maternal psychological distress. The goal of this study is to rigorously examine the casual effect of acute maternal stress on birth outcomes. To explore this question, it is imperative to avoid two identification pitfalls common in natural experiment studies of this topic: non-stress related negative externalities and post-event endogenous fertility selection. With these issues in mind, this analysis excludes those individuals most at risk of health and resource shocks unrelated to stress, New York City and Washington D.C. residents, and does not rely on the endogenously selected post-event birth cohorts. Results suggest that children exposed while in utero were born significantly smaller and earlier than previous cohorts. The timing of the effect provides evidence that intrauterine growth is specifically restricted by first trimester exposure to stress, while gestational age is most reduced by increased maternal psychological distress in mid pregnancy. |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:165&r=hap |
| By: | Adrian Chadi (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the EU, University of Trier) |
| Abstract: | Information on the number of interviewer contacts allows insights into how people’s responses to questions on happiness are connected to the difficulty of reaching potential participants. Using the paradata of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), this paper continues such research by revealing a strong link between respondent motivation and reported happiness. Analyses of responses by future non-respondents substantiate this finding and shed light on a key question for empirical research on subjective well-being, which is whether the unhappy tend to avoid survey participation or whether the unwilling might respond more negatively when being asked about their satisfaction with life. |
| Keywords: | Happiness, Respondent motivation, Measurement bias, Life satisfaction, Panel attrition, Interviewer contacts |
| JEL: | C8 I3 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iaa:dpaper:201403&r=hap |
| By: | Kaiser, Lutz C. (North Rhine-Westphalia University of Applied Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Based on a unique case study-dataset, the paper analyses job satisfaction and public service motivation in Germany. A special issue of the investigation is related to the evaluation of performance pay scales that were introduced some years ago to German public employees within the frame of fostering New Public Management. The findings display a general dominance of intrinsic motivators. Additionally, this kind of motivators plays an important role with regard to building up and keeping job satisfaction in the public sector. Further results display the transferability of competences, autonomy, regular appraisal interviews and productivity feedback as factors incorporating a positive significance in terms of job satisfaction. |
| Keywords: | job satisfaction, public service motivation, performance pay scales, HR-management |
| JEL: | J28 J45 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7935&r=hap |
| By: | Beja Jr., Edsel |
| Abstract: | This paper presents evidence of a positive but very small long run relationship between income growth and happiness, evidence that can disprove the Easterlin Paradox. However, the paper argues that there is actually reason to sustain the paradox because it finds the magnitude of the estimated relationship too small to suggest that income growth has substantial consequence in improving happiness over the long-term. Certainly, the evidence suggests that happiness is more than about raising incomes. This paper argues that a rejection of the paradox is acceptable if and only if the empirical findings indicate economic significance. |
| Keywords: | Easterlin Paradox; income growth; happiness; dynamics |
| JEL: | A20 C53 I30 O40 |
| Date: | 2014–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:53360&r=hap |