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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2025–07–14
four papers chosen by Viviana Di Giovinazzo, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca |
| By: | Huang, Haifang (University of Alberta, Department of Economics); Helliwell, John (University of British Columbia); Norton, Max (University of British Columbia) |
| Abstract: | Using multiple Canadian and U.S. surveys over the past two decades, we find large and comparable declines in life satisfaction and other measures of subjective well-being among young Canadians and young Americans, specifically those below the age of 35. The timing of the decline is consistent, too, with the downward trend starting well before COVID-19, and picking up speed around the mid-2010s. The declines are the most dramatic for Gen Z. But Gen Y follows not far behind. There is no large gender difference, likely reflecting differing equally important challenges. We find substantial declines in all population segments when we divide the survey samples by household income, having a university degree or not, and geographic regions. One notable finding is that in the U.S. those with household income between $35k and $75k a year reported a greater decline than, and has become indistinguishable from, those of lower incomes in terms of life satisfaction and self-assessed mental problems. Canadian in the middle income category, between $40k and $100k, retain a noticeable advantage in life satisfaction over those with lower incomes. Another is that regions that started with a higher level of life satisfaction, such as the Atlantic and Prairie regions in Canada, the Mountain and West North Central census division in the U.S., fell harder than those in initially worse positions. A Canadian exception is Quebec, which started high and experienced the least, though still substantial, decline. |
| Keywords: | subjective well-being; generation; demographics |
| JEL: | E24 H23 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2025–07–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:albaec:2025_005 |
| By: | Nguyen, Ha Trong; Mitrou, Francis |
| Abstract: | Using longitudinal, nationally representative data from Australia, this study uncovers a previously undocumented pattern: in over half of cases where one household member reports weather-related home damage, their co-resident does not. This high rate of intra-household inconsistency is striking, particularly given that respondents are asked the same question within a similar timeframe, and that prior research has generally treated self-reported damage as exogenous to individual behaviour. Household fixed-effects models indicate that a range of factors, including individual health, life satisfaction, local socio-economic conditions, and cyclone exposure, are systematically associated with both the likelihood of reporting damage and intra-household inconsistencies. Individuals in better health, with higher life satisfaction, or residing in more advantaged areas are less likely to report damage-whether consistently or inconsistently-relative to their household member. Furthermore, replacing self-reported damage with a more objective measure substantially attenuates the observed associations between damage and individual health and life satisfaction. Taken together, these findings challenge the common assumption of exogeneity in self-reported weather-related home damage and underscore the risk of biased inference if endogeneity is not adequately addressed. |
| Keywords: | Measurement Errors, Survey Misreporting, Natural Disasters, Cyclones, Housing |
| JEL: | C18 Q54 R23 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1624 |
| By: | Perona, Mathieu |
| Abstract: | Les grands indicateurs du bien-être subjectif sont orientés à la baisse en juin : satisfaction dans la vie, niveau de vie, sens se replient par rapport au trimestre précédent. Le bien-être émotionnel résiste, à un niveau élevé, tandis que l’appréciation de l’avenir collectif, celui de la prochaine génération, reste dégradée. |
| Keywords: | France, Conjoncture, Bien-être |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpm:notobe:2515 |
| By: | Lee, Seungmin; Abay, Kibrom A.; Barrett, Christopher B.; Hoddinott, John F. |
| Abstract: | Resilience measurement has received substantial attention over the past decade or so. Existing measures, however, relate resilience to a single well-being indicator. This may be problematic in contexts where households face deprivations in multiple dimensions. We explore how sensitive estimates of household-level resilience are to the specific well-being indicator used and show that measures are only weakly correlated across different, reasonable indicators based on expenditure-based poverty, dietary diversity, and livestock asset holdings. We then introduce a multidimensional resilience measure, integrating the probabilistic moment-based resilience measurement approach of Cissé and Barrett (2018) with the multidimensional poverty measurement method of Alkire and Foster (2011). Applying the new method to household panel data, we show that univariate and multidimensional resilience measures can yield varied inferences on the ranking of households as well as potential impact of development interventions. |
| Keywords: | assets; consumption; dietary diversity; livestock; nutrition; poverty; resilience; Ethiopia; Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Date: | 2024–09–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:151999 |