|
on Economics of Happiness |
|
Issue of 2025–01–13
eleven papers chosen by Viviana Di Giovinazzo, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca |
| By: | Baktash, Mehrzad B. |
| Abstract: | Increased wages and productivity associated with performance pay can be beneficial to both employers and employees. However, performance pay can also entail unintended consequences for workers' well-being. This study is the first to systematically examine the association between performance pay and loneliness, a significant social well-being concern. Using representative survey data from Germany, I find that performance pay is positively associated with incidence, dimensions, and intensity of loneliness. Correspondingly, performance pay is negatively associated with social life satisfaction of the workers. The findings also hold in sensible instrumental variable estimations addressing the potential endogeneity of performance pay and in various robustness checks. Investigating the potential role of moderating factors reveals that the association between performance pay and loneliness is particularly large for private sector employees. Finally, implications are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Performance Pay, Loneliness, Social Life, Well-Being, SOEP |
| JEL: | J33 I31 J32 I10 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1524 |
| By: | Bellmann, Charlotte; Köchling, Anne Gerlind; Reif, Julian; Eisenstein, Bernd |
| Abstract: | Die traditionelle Erfolgsmessung im Tourismus, die primär auf ökonomischen Indikatoren basiert, wird den vielseitigen persönlichen und gesellschaftlichen Effekten des Tourismus zunehmend nicht gerecht. Dieser Beitrag bietet einen Überblick zu den bisherigen wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen zu den Auswirkungen von Urlaubsreisen auf die Erholung, die Gesundheit und das subjektive Wohlbefinden von Urlaubsreisenden und stellt damit die sozialen Wertedimensionen des Tourismus in den Mittelpunkt. Mittels einer iterativsequentiellen Literaturrecherche wurden der aktuelle Forschungsstand analysiert, theoretische Grundlagen integriert und zukünftige Forschungsbedarfe herausgearbeitet. Die Ergebnisse belegen die vielfältigen positiven Effekte von Urlaubsreisen, darunter Stressreduktion, Wiederherstellung von Ressourcen, Verbesserung der Gesundheit sowie die Förderung des subjektiven Wohlbefindens in seiner hedonistischen und eudaimonischen Dimension. Trotz zahlreicher wissenschaftlicher Belege zeigt sich ein erheblicher Bedarf an weiterführender Forschung, um die Zusammenhänge dieser Effekte umfassender zu verstehen. |
| Abstract: | The traditional measurement of success in tourism, which is primarily based on economic indicators, is increasingly failing to do justice to the wide range of personal and social effects of tourism. This paper provides an overview of the scientific findings to date on the effects of leisure travel on the recovery, health and subjective well-being of leisure travellers, thus focusing on the social value dimensions of tourism. By means of an iterativesequential literature review, the current state of research was analysed, theoretical foundations integrated and future research needs identified. The results show the many positive effects of holiday trips, including stress reduction, restoration of resources, improvement of health and the promotion of subjective well-being in its hedonistic and eudaimonic dimensions. Despite the abundance of scientific evidence, there is considerable need for further research in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the relationships between these effects. |
| Keywords: | Persönliche Effekte von Urlaubsreisen, Gesundheit, subjektives Wohlbefinden, Glück, Lebenszufriedenheit, Erholung, Individual effects of leisure travel, health, subjective well-being, happiness, life satisfaction, recovery |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ditfwp:308053 |
| By: | Pickard, Harry (Newcastle University Business School); Bove, Vincenzo (IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca and CAGE, University of Warwick); Efthyvoulou, Georgios (University of Sheffield) |
| Abstract: | Do terrorist attacks affect life satisfaction and mental health? To explore this question, we analyse data on all casualty-causing terrorist incidents in Great Britain from 1992 to 2020, and combine this information with individual-level data from the British Household Panel Survey and the UK Household Longitudinal Survey over the same period. To get as close as possible to a causal interpretation, we exploit variation within individuals, net of potential temporal and attack-specific unobserved factors, and report an array of different specifications and robustness tests. Our analysis reveals that geographic proximity to terrorist attacks decreases life satisfaction, particularly when the incidents occurred within the month before the interview. We also find that individuals with pre-existing mental vulnerabilities exhibit higher distress levels following a recent terrorism shock. |
| Keywords: | wellbeing, life satisfaction, mental health, terrorism, security JEL Classification: I10, I31, H56, D74 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:734 |
| By: | Heng-fu Zou (The World Bank) |
| Date: | 2024–11–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cuf:wpaper:703 |
| By: | Le Moal, Mathieu (Université de Montpellier); Thurik, Roy (Erasmus School of Economics); Torrès, Olivier (Université de Montpellier); Soenen, Guillaume (Université de Montpellier) |
| Abstract: | We analyse the links between daily recovery experiences after work (detachment, relaxation, mastery and control) and mental health (well-being and burnout) based on four surveys of French small business owners. First, comparing our results with those of employees' recovery experiences, we find that small business owners have fewer recovery experiences for all four dimensions. Second, controlling for gender, age, life partner, education level, executive experience, business size, capital ownership and type of entrepreneur, both linear regressions and SEM analysis show that the quality of overall daily recovery experiences increases well-being and reduces burnout. Third, we show that the detachment component is not correlated with well-being, and the mastery component is not correlated with burnout. Relaxation and control are most strongly associated with wellbeing, whereas control has the strongest association with burnout. Many implications (including clinical) are discussed. |
| Keywords: | small business owners, entrepreneurs, daily recovery experiences, well-being, burnout, France |
| JEL: | I12 I31 L26 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17548 |
| By: | Burdin, Gabriel (University of Siena); Kambayashi, Ryo (Musashi University); Kato, Takao (Colgate University) |
| Abstract: | This study provides the first analysis of Japan's 2018 Work Style Reform (WSR) and its effects on firms and workers, using payroll and survey data in a difference-in-difference design. We find that the reform's introduction of an overtime cap reduces average monthly overtime hours by 5 hours (-25%) and compresses the distribution of overtime within establishments. Total earnings decrease by 2% due to reduced overtime pay, while hourly wages remain unchanged. Notably, the reform improves life and leisure satisfaction, but these well-being gains are observed only among women. This gender difference is not explained by variations in perceived work intensification or time use. Instead, we find evidence that men (but not women) substitute paid overtime for unpaid overtime, which is consistent with the lack of well-being gains for men. Finally, we document that the reform leads to women taking more career jobs (standard employment) relative to non-career jobs (nonstandard employment) as compared to their male counterparts, highlighting the potential of working-hour regulations to promote gender equality in the labor market. |
| Keywords: | working time regulations, overtime, wages, employment, subjective well-being, gender, Japan, work style reform |
| JEL: | J16 J22 J23 J41 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17583 |
| By: | LAURENT Eloi; BOSKOVIC Ana (European Commission - JRC); BENCZUR Peter (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | Wellbeing is a core objective enshrined in the Treaty on European Union and there is a wide range of related activities across EU institutions reflecting the political attention given to wellbeing and the wellbeing economy . As the new European mandate begins, it seems useful to advance the wellbeing agenda on two complementary fronts: first, by detailing the institutional pathways through which wellbeing indicators can inform European policies (“beyond GDP”); second, by proposing new visions of European wellbeing in the Union able to shape the European project and identity (“beyond growth”). This short note aims at developing those two facets of the emerging European wellbeing economy. |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc139511 |
| By: | van de Kraats, Coen (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Galama, Titus (University of Southern California); Lindeboom, Maarten (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Deng, Zichen (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We provide evidence that the social norm (expectation) that adults work has a substantial detrimental causal effect on the mental well-being of unemployed men in mid-life, as substantial as, e.g., the detriment of being widowed. As their peers in age retire and the social norm weakens, the mental well-being of the unemployed improves. Using data on individuals aged 50+ from 10 European countries, we identify the social norm of work effect using exogenous variation in the earliest eligibility age for old-age public pensions across countries and birth cohorts. |
| Keywords: | mental well-being, social norm of work, retirement institution |
| JEL: | I10 I31 J60 D63 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17586 |
| By: | McCartney, Gerry; Hill O'Connor, Clementine; Laughlin, Sue; Robertson, Tony; Bunse, Lukas; Crighton, Matthew; McLeod, Aileen; Cochrane, Phoebe; Stuart, Francis; Black, Iain; McMaster, Robert |
| Abstract: | The Scottish Government published its 10-year National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) in 2022. The NSET set out an ambition to create a Wellbeing Economy, but NonGovernmental Organisations (NGOs) who advocate for a Wellbeing Economy and environmental sustainability were critical both of the contents of the NSET, and the process used to create it. This paper seeks to provide a review of evidence to better inform the future development of economic strategy in Scotland, and rebalance the advice the original NSET was based upon, such that it might have a better chance of realising a Wellbeing Economy in the future. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:penwps:308087 |
| By: | David Frayman |
| Abstract: | Employment support for those with mild-to-moderate health conditions is estimated to deliver large benefits to the individual and government finances, paying for itself within 5 years. This suggests enabling inactive individuals to self-refer into support could significantly reduce the economic and wellbeing costs of health-related inactivity in the UK. Employment support for those with severe mental health conditions is also estimated to deliver large benefits but at a higher cost, which may be justified due to the vulnerable nature of this population. |
| Keywords: | Employment, Productivity, Wellbeing |
| Date: | 2024–12–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepops:68 |
| By: | Vasily Astrov (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Branimir Jovanović (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw) |
| Abstract: | This article examines trends in population, labour, prices, incomes and consumption across eight Eastern European countries – Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia – between 1950 and 1990. It finds that, despite persistent shortages, economic and social conditions generally improved until the late 1970s. Incomes and consumption rose steadily, and access to education and health care expanded, often at rates comparable to or even surpassing those in some Western European economies. However, the 1980s brought mounting economic challenges, as the state increasingly lost labour to the informal sector, wages and incomes stagnated, inflation surged in several countries, and consumption growth began to slow significantly. wiiw COMECON Dataset https //comecon.wiiw.ac.at/ |
| Keywords: | population, labour, incomes, prices, consumption, living standards, well-being, Eastern Europe, socialism |
| JEL: | N34 P22 P23 P24 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wii:wpaper:255 |