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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2014‒12‒24
seven papers chosen by |
| By: | Lale Berkoz |
| Abstract: | The Relationships between Living Conditions and life satisfaction of elderly people in Istanbul Lale BERKOZ, Funda YÃRMÃBESOGLU ITU, Faculty of Architecture Department of Urban and Regional Planning Taksim, Taþkýþla, 34437, Ãstanbul e-mail: lberkoz@gmail.com The rate of the elderly population increases rapidly throughout the world. The growth rate of the elderly population in the world is 2.1%, whereas the overall population growth rate is over 1.2 % (Mandiraoglu, 2010). The elderly population rate in the United States varies between 15% and 20 %. However, the elderly population rate in Turkey has not reached the level of developed western countries. Although the population rate of those who are 60 and over in Turkey was 5.9% in 1950, it has risen to 7.0% in 1990 and 8.4% in 2000. Today this rate is about 10%. For the coming of aging society, the life satisfaction for the elderly people are very important. Satisfaction is the sense of fulfillment resulting from meeting the needs and demands. Life satisfaction refers to the individual's positive evaluation of his/her life as a whole. Life satisfaction, in other words, subjective quality of life, is a major element of quality aging (TSI, 2004). Along with the health issues that arise with old age, the elderly also encounter problems adapting to the changing urban space, which has not been constructed considering their needs. By creating livable spatial environments, it is especially important to provide the elderly and the disabled with suitable, comfortable and safe living spaces. In this sense, considering universal designing criteria in creating urban strategies can help form and maintain healthy cities. There are a few studies analyzing the life quality of the elderly in Turkey. This study is aimed at investigating the relationships between the living conditions and life satisfaction of the elderly in Istanbul. In the scope of this study 410 questionnaires have been made in face to face interviews of elderly people in residential areas in the districts of Bakýrkoy, Kadýkoy and Besiktas. While selecting these samples, questionnaire quota has been applied proportional to the population of each district and elderly people population. The reason why these districts were selected is the rate of the elderly population in the related areas which is twice as much as the average of Istanbul. Key Words: Life satisfaction, life quality, elderly people, Istanbul, H131 |
| Keywords: | Life satisfaction; life quality; elderly people; Istanbul; |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p90&r=hap |
| By: | Verpoorten, Marijke |
| Abstract: | This study focuses on growth, poverty and inequality in Rwanda. We take a broad perspective, in two respects. First, we consider a long time period so as to compare the current situation with the pre-war situation, allowing us to assess whether the recent |
| Keywords: | Rwanda, poverty, inequality, mobility, happiness |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-138&r=hap |
| By: | Ajakaiye, Olu; Jerome, Afeikhena T.; Olaniyan, Olanrewaju; Mahrt, Kristi; Alaba, Olufunke A. |
| Abstract: | This study appraises non-monetary multidimensional poverty in Nigeria using the novel first order dominance approach developed by Arndt et al. (2012). It examines five dimensions of deprivation: education, water, sanitation, shelter, and energy-using comp |
| Keywords: | development, multidimensional poverty, ordinal dominance, welfare, well-being, Nigeria |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-143&r=hap |
| By: | Clark, Andrew E. (Paris School of Economics); D'Ambrosio, Conchita (University of Luxembourg); Ghislandi, Simone (Bocconi University) |
| 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 54,000 individuals living in Germany from 1985 to 2012 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 cause of poverty entry which explains the overall lack of poverty adaptation. |
| Keywords: | income, poverty, subjective well-being, adaptation, SOEP |
| JEL: | I31 D60 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8656&r=hap |
| By: | Lara B. Aknin; Guy Mayraz; John F. Helliwell |
| Abstract: | Charities often circulate widespread donation appeals to garner support for campaigns, but what impact do these campaigns have on the well-being of individuals who choose to donate, those who choose not to donate, and the entire group exposed to the campaign? Here we investigate these questions by exploring the changes in affect reported by individuals who donate in response to a charitable request and those who do not. We also look at the change in affect reported by the entire sample to measure the net impact of the donation request. Results reveal that large donors experience hedonic boosts from their charitable actions, and the substantial fraction of large donors translates to a net positive influence on the well-being of the entire sample. Thus, under certain conditions, donation opportunities can enable people to help others while also increasing the overall well-being of the population of potential donors. |
| JEL: | C91 D60 D64 H3 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20696&r=hap |
| By: | Cutler, David M.; Huang, Wei; Lleras-Muney, Adriana |
| Abstract: | Using Eurobarometer data, we document large variation across European countries in education gradients in income, self-reported health, life satisfaction, obesity, smoking and drinking. While this variation has been documented previously, the reasons why the effect of education on income, health and health behaviors varies is not well understood. We build on previous literature documenting that cohorts graduating in bad times have lower wages and poorer health for many years after graduation, compared to those graduating in good times. We investigate whether more educated individuals suffer smaller income and health losses as a result of poor labor market conditions upon labor market entry. We confirm that a higher unemployment rate at graduation is associated with lower income, lower life satisfaction, greater obesity, more smoking and drinking later in life. Further, education plays a protective role for these outcomes, especially when unemployment rates are high: the losses associated with poor labor market outcomes are substantially lower for more educated individuals. Variation in unemployment rates upon graduation can potentially explain a large fraction of the variance in gradients across different countries. |
| Date: | 2014–12–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hrv:faseco:13479095&r=hap |
| By: | Matthias Blum (Queen's University Management School); Eoin McLaughlin (School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews); Nick Hanley (School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews) |
| Abstract: | For many years, the World Bank has reported estimates of the degree of sustainability of the world’s economies using a measure of adjusted net savings. We construct long-run sustainability indicators for Germany over the period 1850-2000 to test the relationship between these net savings-based indicators and a number of measures of well-being over the long-run. These are the present value of future changes in consumption and changes in average height and infant mortality rates. We find that German sustainability indicators are positive for the most part, although they are negative during and after the two World Wars and also the Great Depression. However, we do not observe similar trends in the path of future consumption. Overall, we find that Genuine Savings is positively related to the present value of changes in future consumption, with some evidence of a cointegrating relationship when the measure of changes in assets is made more comprehensive. Our main contribution is to demonstrate the importance of broader measures of capital, including measures of technological progress; and the limits of conventional measures of investment to understand why future German consumption did not collapse. |
| Keywords: | Sustainability, economic development, Genuine Savings, Adjusted Net Savings, investment, consumption, well-being, economic history. |
| JEL: | E01 E21 N10 O11 Q01 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sss:wpaper:2014-10&r=hap |