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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2023‒06‒26
two papers chosen by |
| By: | Heinz Welsch (University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The literature on subjective well-being (SWB) and the environment has found robust evidence of positive net marginal SWB from pro-environmental behavior (PEB), that is, positive marginal SWB net of the associated costs in terms of money, time and effort (Finding 1). Accordingly, people could increase their SWB (utility) by behaving more pro-environmentally. In addition, net marginal SWB was found to be larger with respect to more costly than with respect to less costly PEBs (Finding 2). Finding 1 is at odds with rational choice theory’s demand that marginal utility be equalized with marginal costs, that is, net marginal utility be zero. The finding can be (and has been) explained by decision error, that is, a failure in forecasting the well-being consequences of an act of choice. This paper uses the rational-choice decision-error framework to show that if (i) observed levels of PEB are the result of rational choice and (ii) there is positive net marginal SWB at observed PEB levels due to decision error, then net marginal SWB from a PEB is increasing in its marginal costs. The ability of the rational-choice decision error framework to explain not only Finding 1 but Finding 2 provides empirical support for that framework. |
| Keywords: | pro-environmental behavior; subjective well-being; decision error; rational choice; affective forecasting |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:old:dpaper:441&r=hap |
| By: | R. Gordon Rinderknecht (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Daniela V. Negraia (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Sophie Lohmann (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Emilio Zagheni (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This research examined the extent to which solitary leisure in the U.S. has grown over the past 60 years. The demographic and technological developments of the past decades have profoundly altered the way people live life. An increase in social isolation is one potential such change, though its prevalence remains debated and challenging to directly quantify. To provide this direct quantification, we focused on an area of life where social isolation has the potential to be especially detrimental: leisure time. We assessed changes in leisure spent alone via nationally representative U.S. time-use data spanning six decades. Findings indicate that time spent alone during leisure has more than doubled among working-aged adults, from 57 daily minutes in 1965 to 117 in 2018. More concerningly, the probability of spending five hours or more in solo leisure a day has increased six-fold. Multivariate analyses indicate this trend is partly accounted for by population changes, most notably reductions in marriage rates and increases in living alone, but most of the growth of solo leisure remains unexplained. Leisure is an important source of social capital and network formation, and increasingly solitary leisure may undermine well-being in the moment and across the life course. |
| Keywords: | USA |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2023-025&r=hap |