|
on Economics of Happiness |
|
Issue of 2015‒06‒27
fourteen papers chosen by |
| By: | Bryson, Alex (National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR)); Forth, John (National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR)); Stokes, Lucy (National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR)) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses linked employer-employee data to investigate the relationship between employees' subjective well-being and workplace performance in Britain. The analyses show a clear, positive and statistically-significant relationship between the average level of job satisfaction at the workplace and workplace performance. This finding is present in both cross-sectional and panel analyses and is robust to various estimation methods and model specifications. In contrast, we find no association between levels of job-related affect and workplace performance. |
| Keywords: | subjective wellbeing, job satisfaction, job-related affect, workplace performance |
| JEL: | J28 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9096&r=hap |
| By: | Dräger, Vanessa (University of Cologne) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines reforms in German employment protection for permanent workers (EPLP) on workers' well-being. Using variation in how the reforms affected firms of different sizes, I apply a difference-in-differences approach in conjunction with individual fixed effects. I find that life satisfaction of temporary workers decreases by around 0.5 (10-point scale) when EPLP decreases. I investigate effect heterogeneity and discuss mechanisms. Placebo tests are conducted. An increase in EPLP had no effect. Due to the design of the EPLP reforms, the majority of permanent workers did not face major changes in EPLP. |
| Keywords: | employment protection reforms, well-being, quasi-experiment, difference-in-difference |
| JEL: | J32 J38 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9114&r=hap |
| By: | Miaoqing Yang; Eugenio Zucchelli |
| Abstract: | Recent studies on the effects of anti-smoking policies on subjective well-being present mixed results and focus mainly on smokers. We contribute to the literature by exploiting the policy experiment provided by the UK public smoking bans and evaluating the impact of smoking bans on the subjective well-being of smokers, non-smokers and couples of different types of smokers. We employ matching techniques combined with flexible difference-in-differences fixed effects panel data models on data from the British Household Panel Survey. We find that the UK public smoking bans appear to have a statistically significant short-term positive impact on the well-being of married individuals, especially among couples with dependent children. These effects appear to be substantial in size, robust to alternative specifications and may be driven by positive externalities due to parental altruism. |
| Keywords: | subjective well-being, smoking bans, policy evaluation, BHPS |
| JEL: | C21 C23 I10 I18 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:85310008&r=hap |
| By: | O'Higgins, Niall (ILO International Labour Organization) |
| Abstract: | It's a pretty tough time to be a young European seeking to enter the labour market, but what exactly is the nature of the problem facing young people trying to find employment? It has long been recognized that unemployment is associated with a series of negative health consequences, both physical and psychological which tend to grow disproportionately with the duration of unemployment. Unemployment is also associated with unhappiness – both for those experiencing it as well as those who are employed but fear unemployment in a time of high job insecurity and it is widely understood that unhappiness is of itself linked to mental and physical ill-health. There is also a substantial body of evidence which links youth unemployment (and non-employment) to crime. Not only is crime costly for society it is also costly for the individual. Moreover, any such effects are likely to have long-term consequences; once a path of marginalization and criminality has been embarked upon, one's future prospects (and expectations) are likely to adjust accordingly. Thus, unemployment is bad for young people and for society as a whole; however, equally important, the detrimental consequences of youth unemployment are largely associated with longer term unemployment rather than unemployment per se. It is here that the really harmful effects of the recession have been felt by young people. During the recession, the prevalence of long-term unemployment amongst the young increased by more than one third. Moreover, this is not the only recent negative trend in young people's labour market experience with longer term consequences. In recent years, there has been increasing recognition that joblessness – or NEET – as it is now usually called, and not just unemployment per se is an issue for concern. Similarly, the emergence of high levels of temporary and part-time employment amongst young people and the longer term impacts of these contractual forms is also becoming a significant issue. This paper looks at recent trends in youth unemployment and joblessness and seeks to clarify some issues related to the nature of the youth labour market 'problem'. |
| Keywords: | youth labour markets, youth unemployment, NEET |
| JEL: | J13 J64 J81 I28 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izapps:pp103&r=hap |
| By: | Leonardo Becchetti (Università di Roma "Tor Vergata"); Pierluigi Conzo (Università di Torino and CSEF); Francesco Salustri (Università di Roma "Tor Vergata") |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of health expenditure on health outcomes on a large sample of Europeans aged above 50 using individual and regional-level data. We find a significant and negative effect of lagged health expenditure on later changes in the number of chronic diseases. This effect varies according to age, health behavior, gender, income and education, thereby supporting the hypothesis that the impact of health expenditure across different interest groups is heterogeneous. Our empirical findings are confirmed also when health expenditure is instrumented with parliament political composition. |
| Keywords: | health satisfaction, education, life satisfaction, public health costs |
| JEL: | I12 I11 I18 |
| Date: | 2015–06–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:406&r=hap |
| By: | Pierluigi Conzo (Università di Torino and CSEF); Giulia Fuochi (Università di Torino); Letizia Mencarini (Università di Torino and Collegio Carlo ALberto) |
| Abstract: | There is a growing number of studies focusing on the role of fertility in subjective well-being in developed countries while developing countries have been rarely taken into account. We investigate the empirical relationship between fertility and life satisfaction in rural Ethiopia, the largest landlocked country in Africa providing the unique opportunity of panel data availability. Our results suggest that older men benefit the most in terms of life satisfaction from the investment in children, the latter being instead detrimental for women’s subjective well being in reproductive age. In particular, consistently with the related socio-economic theories, we find that the number of children ever born plays a positive role for men’s life satisfaction in older age. Conversely, a new birth produces the opposite effect especially for young women. We argue that this mismatch has two complementary explanations: on the one hand, rather than a source of (labour) support young children represent a burden which traditionally falls on women’s shoulders in the short run; on the other hand, in poor rural areas children can be thought as a valuable long-term investment in a life-cycle perspective. Endogeneity issues are addressed by controlling for lagged life satisfaction in OLS regressions, through fixed effects and the IV approach. |
| Date: | 2015–06–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:407&r=hap |
| By: | Anne Case; Angus Deaton |
| Abstract: | Suicide rates, life evaluation, and measures of affect are all plausible measures of the mental health and wellbeing of populations. Yet in the settings we examine, correlations between suicide and measured wellbeing are at best inconsistent. Differences in suicides between men and women, between Hispanics, blacks, and whites, between age groups for men, between countries or US states, between calendar years, and between days of the week, do not match differences in life evaluation. By contrast, reports of physical pain are strongly predictive of suicide in many contexts. The prevalence of pain is increasing among middle-aged Americans, and is accompanied by a substantial increase in suicides and deaths from drug and alcohol poisoning. Our measure of pain is now highest in middle age—when life evaluation and positive affect are at a minimum. In the absence of the pain epidemic, suicide and life evaluation are likely unrelated, leaving unresolved whether either one is a useful overall measure of population wellbeing. |
| JEL: | I12 I3 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21279&r=hap |
| By: | Barbara M. Fraumeni |
| Abstract: | According to the World Bank and the United Nations, human capital is the largest component of human wealth for most countries in the world. There is no question that human capital is critical to individual and society well-being and both present and future growth. This presentation draws upon an analysis of human capital measures for 18 countries, including the three most populous countries in the world: China, India, and the United States. This paper will focus on two human capital issues, which are considerations in choosing a human capital measure: the size of the educational attainment gap between those younger and older, and differences in rankings using alternative human capital measures. In a number of countries, younger individuals (age 25-24) have a significantly higher educational attainment than older individuals (aged 55-64). For these countries, expectations are that economic growth and well-being will improve over the longer term. Lifetime income measures which explicitly include the expected future work history and income of all individuals in a country are preferred over other measures if these gaps matter. The answer to the question: “What is the human capital ranking of countries?” depends upon the reference measure. Six types of measures are considered: PISA test scores, PIAAC, Barro-Lee educational attainment, Inclusive Wealth human capital, Jorgenson-Fraumeni lifetime income, and World Bank intangible capital. What explains the significant differences in the rankings? Is it important unmeasured attributes or country specific institutions and labor markets? Is it a failure of standard economic assumptions, such as individuals being paid what they are worth, to predict labor market outcomes? It is critical to answer these questions before choosing a human capital measure to predict economic growth and well-being in general, and notably the impact of younger cohorts being more highly educated than older cohorts. |
| JEL: | E24 I25 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21283&r=hap |
| By: | Siqi Zheng; Cong Sun; Matthew E. Kahn |
| Abstract: | Urban China’s high levels of ambient air pollution both lowers quality of life and raises mortality risk. China’s wealthy have the purchasing power to purchase private products such as air filters that allows them to offset some of the pollution exposure risk. Using a unique data set of Internet purchases, we document that households invest more in masks and air filter products when ambient pollution levels exceed key alert thresholds. Richer people are more likely to invest in air filters, which are much more expensive than masks. Our findings have implications for trends in inequality in human capital accumulation and in quality of life inequality in urban China. |
| JEL: | Q53 Q55 R21 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21301&r=hap |
| By: | Leonardo Becchetti (DEDI & CEIS, University of Rome "Tor Vergata"); Pierluigi Conzo (Dept. of Economics and Statistics, University of Turin); Francesco Salustri (DEDI, University of Rome "Tor Vergata") |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of health expenditure on health outcomes on a large sample of Europeans aged above 50 using individual and regional-level data. We find a significant and negative effect of lagged health expenditure on later changes in the number of chronic diseases. This effect varies according to age, health behavior, gender, income and education, thereby supporting the hypothesis that the impact of health expenditure across different interest groups is heterogeneous. Our empirical findings are confirmed also when health expenditure is instrumented with parliament political composition. |
| Keywords: | health satisfaction, education, life satisfaction, public health costs |
| JEL: | I12 I11 I18 |
| Date: | 2015–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:348&r=hap |
| By: | Jan Goebel; Christian Krekel; Tim Tiefenbach; Nicolas R. Ziebarth |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of the Fukushima disaster on environmental concerns, well-being, risk aversion, and political preferences in Germany, Switzerland, and the UK. In these countries, overall life satisfaction did not significantly decrease, but the disaster significantly increased environmental concerns among Germans. One underlying mechanism likely operated through the perceived risk of a similar meltdown of domestic reactors. After Fukushima, more Germans considered themselves as “very risk averse”. However, drastic German policy action shut down the oldest reactors, implemented the phaseout of the remaining ones, and proclaimed the transition to renewables. This shift in energy policy contributed to the subsequent decrease in environmental concerns, particularly among women, Green party supporters, and people living in close distance to the oldest reactors. In Germany, political support for the Greens increased significantly, whereas in Switzerland and the UK, this increase was limited to people living close to reactors. |
| Keywords: | Fukushima, nuclear phase-out, environmental concerns, well-being, risk aversion, Green party |
| JEL: | I18 I31 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp762&r=hap |
| By: | Shin, Inyong |
| Abstract: | We have analyzed the effect of a pension system on life expectancy and happiness level using a cross country data and an optimal dynamic problem of individuals who live in continuous and finite time. From the data and the optimization problem, we have found the following; 1) happiness can be almost explained by income per capita, 2) depending on the level of income per capita, the pension system can make lifespan longer or shorter and can raise or reduce the level of happiness, 3) the extension of lifespan without the income support may not always make our happiness higher, 4) under government budget constraint, even though pension system can make the lifespan longer, pension system cannot make the happiness level higher and can rather raise problems for aging population. The public pension system, which is a compulsory saving, can crowd out the private savings and can prevent individual's utility maximization. This paper suggests that it is not always true that the pension system improves happiness level and that it may be necessary for us to reconsider about the reason for existence of the compulsory pension. |
| Keywords: | pension system, optimized life expectancy, lifetime utility level, health investments |
| JEL: | C61 H55 I31 |
| Date: | 2015–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:65116&r=hap |
| By: | Inna Petrunyk; Christian Pfeifer |
| Abstract: | The authors update previous findings on the total East-West gap in overall life satisfaction and its trend by using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 1992 to 2013. Additionally, the East-West gap and its trend are separately analyzed for men and women as well as for four birth cohorts. The results indicate that reported life satisfaction is on average significantly lower in East than in West German federal states and that part of the raw East-West gap is due to differences in household income and unemployment status. The conditional East-West gap decreased in the first years after the German reunification and remained quite stable and sizeable since the mid-nineties. The results further indicate that gender differences are small. But the East-West gap is significantly smaller and shows a trend towards convergence for younger birth cohorts. |
| Keywords: | Germany, happiness, life satisfaction, reunification, trends |
| JEL: | D63 I31 P36 P46 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp764&r=hap |
| By: | Peter Krause |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp765&r=hap |