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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2024‒03‒04
three papers chosen by |
| By: | YOO Sunbin; KUMAGAI Junya; Thierry COULIBALY; MANAGI Shunsuke |
| Abstract: | Rural populations globally tend to report lower subjective well-being (SWB) than their urban counterparts. Although most solutions to this problem have focused on increasing material gains, our research, drawing from Gallup World Poll data and regression analysis with an instrumental variables approach, underscores the importance of postmaterialist values such as free choice, community attachment and education in explaining the disparity. Grounded in Inglehart’s theory which traces human aspirations from survival to higher ambitions, and empirical findings on the impact of postmaterialism on well-being, we argue that embracing postmaterialist values is crucial to enhancing rural well-being and lessening the urban-rural divide in terms of SWB. Notably, this holds true not only for countries with high GDP but also for less affluent countries. By exploring a range of well-being indicators, including factors such as positive and negative experiences, and honing in on specific postmaterialist elements, our research provides compelling evidence for prioritizing these postmaterialist values in rural areas to effectively address SWB disparities. |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:24017&r=hap |
| By: | David G. Blanchflower; Alex Bryson |
| Abstract: | Using cross-sectional data files for the United States we show that difficulties experienced in childhood - so-called Adverse Child Experiences (ACE)s - are strongly and significantly associated with mental health in adulthood. Our evidence is taken from eight Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys from 2009-2023 which contain a special supplement asking respondents to recall abuse in their childhood. We find that poor mental health is on the rise in the United States, particularly among young women. This upward trend among the young is also apparent from the National Health Interview Surveys 1997-2021, the Healthy Minds surveys of 2007-2023 and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) for high school students. We find ACEs are strongly correlated with poor mental health among both the young and older people and the effect is additive. The impact of living with a household member with poor mental health is large relative to other ACEs and is particularly pronounced among younger people. Being bullied, including electronically, is also strongly negatively associated with the wellbeing of high school students. Time spent in front of a screen has been rising over time for the young and has an independent negative impact on their mental health over and above bullying, one which is more pronounced for young women. |
| JEL: | I1 I31 J16 |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32119&r=hap |
| By: | van Rooij, Maarten (De Nederlandsche Bank); Coibion, Olivier (University of Texas at Austin); Georgarakos, Dimitris (European Central Bank); Candia, Bernardo (University of California, Berkeley); Gorodnichenko, Yuriy (University of California, Berkeley) |
| Abstract: | How strong are peer effects on the beliefs and spending decisions of individuals? We use a randomized control study in which treated households are told about either average income or debt of individuals like them to assess how peer effects influence their beliefs and spending. The information treatments are successful at moving respondents' beliefs about peers' incomes and debt levels. We find that individuals with exogenously higher perceived relative income become more opposed to redistribution and increase the amount of time they spend socializing with peers. In addition, we find some evidence of reallocative "keeping up with the Joneses" on spending, as those who learn their peers earn more than they thought tend to reallocate their spending toward durable goods and away from non-durables. However, the quantitative magnitude of peer effects on spending is small in the months following the information experiment. Peer effects also matter for labor supply decisions and ex-post employment outcomes. Finally, believing that one earns more than peers causally leads to large positive effects on happiness, above and beyond effects coming from spending more time with peers, changing beliefs about redistribution, or changes in spending patterns. |
| Keywords: | peer effects, surveys |
| JEL: | D3 D6 D1 E21 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16769&r=hap |