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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2018‒05‒07
six papers chosen by |
| By: | Lukas Windlinger |
| Abstract: | Current studies on the effects of work environments on employees can be criticised with regard to three aspects: (1) they are often based on single buildings or organisations and therefore not generalizable. (2) the influences of work design and the social environment are often not separated from the influences of the work environment. (3) the focus lies either on physical or perceived parameters – the two perspectives are usually not put into relation with each other.In order to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the effect of workplace factors on office users, data from 39 buildings have been collected. A total of 1373 users of these office buildings participated in a survey. Multi-level models show that building-level variables are not generally informative in relation to office user-level outcomes such as satisfaction, well-being or job performance. Rather, employees’ perceptions of their office environments explain variance in self-reported outcomes. Perceptions of the office environment explain additional variance in relation to work design. The multi-level models further indicate that different aspects of the office environment contribute to variance explained in different outcomes. Important predictors for job satisfaction are workspace quality, distractions, and control over the environments. Health status is influenced by social density and distractions. Finally, job performance and work engagement are affected by workspace quality, distractions, and workplace appropriateness.The results therefore imply that leveraging office design and management workplace / facilities managers can promote satisfaction, health, job performance, and work engagement. Thus, the results from the two studies have several implications for business managers, workspace designers, and workplace / facilities managers. |
| Keywords: | multi-level modeling; Satisfaction; Well-Being; work engagement; workplace management |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2017–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2017_269&r=hap |
| By: | Lida Aminian; Harry Timmermans |
| Abstract: | The rapid urbanization and its consequences on human life highlight the concept of Urban Quality Of Life (UQOL) as a research priority for both policy and academia. The applications of UQOL studies are very broad and reflect the motivations behind regional migration, residential choices as well as urban growth patterns. During the last decades many researchers have been involved in the field of environmental behaviour science and their results are mainly oriented towards the influence of built environment on enhancing the quality of life.Traditionally, modeling quality of life in urban settings contains objective and subjective attributes, which obtain through cross sectional surveys, observations and aggregated methods. However, with this method it is difficult to address the cause of satisfaction, while with activity modeling satisfaction is the result of the degree to which the environment satisfies a persons needs.We know on one hand that UQOL is a context based and scale-dependent study, and on the other hand people judgments about the environment vary significantly. Therefore, the satisfaction regarding built environment can also be measured through behavioral indicators. Activity modeling of households and individuals is one of the methods that provide opportunity to study the link between characteristics of urban form and micro –level behaviors. At the residential level, daily activity schedules of households are influenced by characteristics of urban environment. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide an overview of this link and explore the relationship between the built environment and physical activity with more innovative and comprehensive spatial survey methods. |
| Keywords: | activity modeling; Survey; urban quality of life |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2017–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2017_331&r=hap |
| By: | Hopfensitz, Astrid; Mantilla, Cesar |
| Abstract: | Emotion display serves as incentives or deterrents for others’ in many social interactions. We study the portrayal of anger and happiness, two emotions associated with dominance, and its relationship to team performance in a high stake environment. We analyze 4,318 pictures of players from 304 participating teams in twelve editions (1970-2014) of the FIFA Soccer World Cup, and use automated face-reading (FaceReader 6) to evaluate the display of anger and happiness. We observe that the display of both anger and happiness is positively correlated with team performance in the World Cup. Teams whose players display more anger, an emotion associated with competitiveness, concede fewer goals. Teams whose players display more happiness, an emotion associated with confidence, score more goals. We show that this result is driven by less than half the players in a team. |
| Keywords: | emotions; facial expressions; anger; happiness; contests |
| JEL: | D91 L83 |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:iastwp:32633&r=hap |
| By: | MORIKAWA Masayuki |
| Abstract: | This study, using original survey data, presents empirical evidence on the relationship between commuting time and telecommuting on the one hand, and wages and subjective well-being on the other hand in Japan, where long commuting time is prevalent. According to the analysis, first, individuals, particularly female and non-standard employees, have a strong preference for avoiding long commuting hours compared to long working hours. Second, there is a wage premium for long commuters, and this is greater for female employees. Third, although the number of telecommuters is currently very small, they enjoy wage premiums and higher job satisfaction. These findings suggest that diffusion of telecommuting and satellite offices may contribute to increasing the labor market participation of female and elderly people in metropolitan areas. |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:18025&r=hap |
| By: | MORIKAWA Masayuki |
| Abstract: | This study, using original survey data, presents evidence from Japan of the relationship between smoking and obesity on the one hand, and labor market outcomes and subjective well-being on the other hand. According to the results, first, after accounting for various individual characteristics, wages of both male and female smokers are significantly higher than those of non-smokers. This unexpected finding differs from those of past studies and general perception. In addition, the labor participation rate of smokers is higher than that of non-smokers. Second, there is a wage penalty for obesity only among male workers. This is also an unexpected finding, as many past studies have detected wage discounts for obese females. Third, smoking and obesity are associated with low life satisfaction and job satisfaction among females, but these relationships are weak among males. |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:18023&r=hap |
| By: | Klaus Wälde |
| Abstract: | We present a psychological model of stress. Appraisal translates stressors into subjective stress. Stress reduces instantaneous utility of an individual directly and via cognitive load. Coping can be under the control of the individual or more automatic. We predict the occurrence of uncontrolled coping .emotional outbursts .as a function of an individual’s theory-consistent personality and environment. We explain when stressors reduce income. We also explain under which conditions rising income does not go hand in hand with rising stress. First steps towards a theory of therapy show how stressed individuals can improve their well-being beyond standard coping measures. |
| Keywords: | stress, coping, personality, controlled vs. automatic reaction, emotional outbursts, income. |
| JEL: | D03 D91 I12 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6966&r=hap |