|
on Economics of Happiness |
|
Issue of 2019‒07‒08
eight papers chosen by |
| By: | Manuela Stranges (Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF, Università della Calabria); Daniele Vignoli (Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni 'G. Parenti' - DiSIA, Università degli Studi di Firenze); Alessandra Venturini (Dipartimento di Economia e Statistica "Cognetti de Martiis", Campus "Luigi Einaudi", Università degli Studi di Torino) |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to the growing strand of literature that investigates migrants’ subjective wellbeing by analysing how the social comparison with two reference groups (natives and other migrants) within the host country affects migrants’ life satisfaction. Using data from six rounds of the European Social Survey, we constructed two measures of economic distance that compare each migrant’s situation with the average of the group of natives and the group of migrants with similar characteristics. Our results indicate that when the disadvantage between the migrant and the reference groups becomes smaller, migrant’s life satisfaction increases. The effect of the social comparison with natives appears larger than the social comparison with migrants and, in both cases, it is stronger for individuals with higher levels of education. We also show that social comparison is stronger for second generation migrants than for first generation migrants and, within this latter group, it intensifies as length of stay in the host country increases. Overall, the role of social comparison seems crucial to understanding patterns of integration in an enlarged Europe. |
| Keywords: | subjective well-being, migrants, social comparison |
| JEL: | I31 F22 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:201906&r=all |
| By: | Manuela Stranges (Università della Calabria); Daniele Vignoli (Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti", Università di Firenze); Alessandra Venturini (Università di Torino) |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to the growing strand of literature that investigates migrants’ subjective wellbeing by analysing how the social comparison with two reference groups (natives and other migrants) within the host country affects migrants’ life satisfaction. Using data from six rounds of the European Social Survey, we constructed two measures of economic distance that compare each migrant’s situation with the average of the group of natives and the group of migrants with similar characteristics. Our results indicate that when the disadvantage between the migrant and the reference groups becomes smaller, migrant’s life satisfaction increases. The effect of the social comparison with natives appears larger than the social comparison with migrants and, in both cases, it is stronger for individuals with higher levels of education. We also show that social comparison is stronger for second generation migrants than for first generation migrants and, within this latter group, it intensifies as length of stay in the host country increases. Overall, the role of social comparison seems crucial to understanding patterns of integration in an enlarged Europe. |
| Keywords: | subjective well-being, migrants, social comparison |
| JEL: | I31 F22 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fir:econom:wp2019_03&r=all |
| By: | Moschion, Julie; Powdthavee, Nattavudh |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an empirical test of the rational addiction model, used in economics to model individuals’ consumption of addictive substances, versus the utility misprediction model, used in psychology to explain the discrepancy between people’s decision and their subsequent experiences. By exploiting a unique data set of disadvantaged Australians, we provide longitudinal evidence that a drop in life satisfaction tends to precede the use of illegal/street drugs. We also find that the abuse of alcohol, the daily use of cannabis and the weekly use of illegal/street drugs in the past 6 months relate to lower current levels of life satisfaction. This provides empirical support for the utility misprediction model. Further, we find that the decrease in life satisfaction following the consumption of illegal/street drugs persists 6 months to a year after use. In contrast, the consumption of cigarettes is unrelated to life satisfaction in the close past or the near future. Our results, though only illustrative, suggest that measures of individual’s subjective wellbeing should be examined together with data on revealed preferences when testing models of rational decision-making |
| Keywords: | Life satisfaction Rational addiction Drugs Homeless Australia Happiness |
| JEL: | I12 I18 I30 |
| Date: | 2018–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:86479&r=all |
| By: | Hao Wang; Jan Fidrmuc; Qi Luo |
| Abstract: | Utilizing the 2015 wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) that covers 7045 households, we study the effect of grandparents looking after grandchildren on quality of life and life satisfaction of grandparents. We find evidence of important favorable effects of grandparents caregiving: when grandparents look after their grandchildren, they are 2.9% less likely to report symptoms of depression, the amount of support that they receive from their children approximately doubles, and are 2.7% (1.1%) more likely to report being very satisfied (completely satisfied). These favorable effects are proportionate to the amount of time spend caring for grandchildren and increase with the number of grandchildren looked after. The favorable effects on mental health seem limited to grandparents living in rural areas and apply especially to grandfathers. The favorable effect on life satisfaction is primarily directly attributable to caring for grandchildren rather than being incurred indirectly due to better health or financial situation of grandparents. |
| Keywords: | grandparenting, quality of life, life satisfaction |
| JEL: | D13 O18 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7670&r=all |
| By: | Jennifer March Augustine; Daniela Veronica Negraia (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | In today’s society, children’s value to their parents is primarily emotional. As such, scholars have devoted a tremendous amount of effort to understanding how children both enhance, and diminish, the emotional wellbeing of parents. What remains unclear, however, is how these emotional ‘costs’ and ‘benefits’ vary across different socioeconomic segments of U.S. society. We investigate this question using random effects models and a representative sample of adults participating in the American Time Use Survey Wellbeing Module ( N activities =52,036, N respondents =17,481). We find that caring for minor children (versus not) is associated with greater levels of positive emotions (happiness, meaning) and less sadness for all socioeconomic groups, but it is only associated with greater levels of negative emotions (stress, fatigue) for higher SES parents. This overall pattern of results was also observed when looking only at men. For women, however, it was only observed among higher SES mothers. For lower SES women, raising children did not seem to enhance, or diminish, emotional wellbeing. We discuss these SES and gender related findings in the context of recent trends in fertility among both lower and higher socioeconomic segments of society, as well as trends in social inequality more broadly. Key words: wellbeing, parenting, education, time use, gender |
| Keywords: | USA, education, gender, mental health, parenthood, time series |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2019-012&r=all |
| By: | Jennifer March Augustine; Daniela Veronica Negraia (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Although public debate ensues over whether parents or nonparents have higher levels of emotional wellbeing, scholars have suggested that both statuses are associated with a mixed bag of emotions. Drawing on the American Time Use Survey (2010, 2012, 2013) and unique measures of subjective wellbeing that capture positive and negative feelings linked to daily activities, we ‘unpack’ this mixed bag. We do so by examining contextual variation in the parenting emotions gap based on: (1) activity type, (2) whether parents’ children were present, (3) parenting stage, and (4) gender. We find that parenting is associated with more positive emotions than nonparenting, but also more negative emotions. This pattern only existed during housework and leisure, however; not paid labor. Moreover, patterns in positive emotions only existed when parents’ children were present; whereas patterns in negative emotions were primarily observed during earlier stages of parenting. Results were similar for men and women. Key words: subjective wellbeing, parenting, gender, life course, time diary methods |
| Keywords: | USA, gender, individual welfare, life cycle, mental health, parenthood, time series |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2019-011&r=all |
| By: | Njangang, Henri |
| Abstract: | Using Ordinary Least Squares and the Generalized Method of Moments techniques, this paper analyses the effect of governance on happiness in a panel of 31 African countries over the period 2006-2017. We find that governance quality improves happiness. |
| Keywords: | Governance, Happiness, Africa |
| JEL: | D73 I31 O55 |
| Date: | 2019–06–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:94361&r=all |
| By: | Daniela Veronica Negraia (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Jill E. Yavorsky |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT Objective: This study examines whether and, if so, how the gender composition of their children influences mother’s and father’s well-being during parenting activities. Background: Despite that parents socialize and interact with girls and boys differently and spend different amounts of time with them, little attention has been paid to how gender composition of children may matter for parental well-being. Method: The analyses are based on a nationally representative sample of over 18,000 activities from nearly 9,300 parents from the 2010, 2012, and 2013 Well-being Module and American Time Use Survey. Random intercept models are used to account for the multilevel structure of the data. Results: Mothers and fathers report similar levels of happiness and meaning while parenting across different gender compositions of children, with one exception: mothers of adolescent daughters report lower meaning than mothers of adolescent sons. At the same time, both mothers and fathers report greater negative emotions (like stress or fatigue) while parenting girls than while parenting boys. These patterns can be partly explained by differences in activities that parents do with girls versus boys. Conclusion: Our study, which we contextualize in broader literature on gender stereotypes and gendered socialization and interactional processes, makes several contributions to research on gender, family, and health and identifies a key factor—gender composition of children—that moderates mothers’ and fathers’ emotional well-being while parenting. Keywords : childhood/children, gender, family roles, parenting, time-use, well-being |
| Keywords: | USA, childhood, children, family relationship, gender, mental health, parenthood |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2019-013&r=all |