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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2025–08–18
three papers chosen by Viviana Di Giovinazzo, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca |
| By: | Padgett, R. Noah; Felton, Chris; Case, Brendan; Lomas, Tim; Johnson, Byron R.; VanderWeele, Tyler J. |
| Abstract: | Policymakers and scholars alike seek an informative single-item measure of subjective well-being. Two prominently used single-item measures are life satisfaction--as used by the World Values Survey, General Social Survey, and Australia's Measuring What Matters framework, etc.--and Cantril's Ladder--as used in the World Happiness Report. We compare these single-item assessments using data from the Global Flourishing Study, which includes over 200, 000 participants in 22 countries. We find that life satisfaction is, on average, more strongly correlated with happiness, health, meaning, character, relationships, and financial security than is Cantril's Ladder. This result held in all 22 countries when all dimensions of flourishing are examined simultaneously. However, Cantril's Ladder had stronger correlations with financial aspects of well-being in several countries. Life satisfaction provides a comprehensive single-item assessment of overall subjective well-being. |
| Date: | 2025–07–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:8yfzc_v1 |
| By: | Wu, Fengyu; Sarracino, Francesco |
| Abstract: | This study examines how subjective well-being (SWB), specifically life satisfaction, influences household consumption expenditures, and the moderating role of social capital. While previous research has largely focused on how consumption affects well-being, we explore the reverse direction, motivated by the hypothesis that higher well-being may reduce consumption needs, particularly among individuals with strong social relations. Using fixed-effects panel regressions on data from the 2006-2010 waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, we examine two types of consumption-conspicuous and basic-and three indicators of social capital: social support, low loneliness, and active group membership. Results indicate that the relationship between life satisfaction and consumption expenditures changes significantly with individuals' social capital. Among those with low social support or high loneliness, greater life satisfaction is linked to increased spending on both conspicuous and basic goods and services. However, this positive association weakens or reverses among individuals with strong social ties or low levels of loneliness. These findings suggest that social capital can buffer the link between well-being and consumption, implying that policies fostering social ties and reducing loneliness may help decouple well-being from consumption growth and promote more sustainable lifestyles. |
| Keywords: | Consumption Expenditures, Subjective Well-being, Life Satisfaction, Social Capital, Loneliness |
| JEL: | D12 I31 Z13 A13 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1647 |
| By: | Kaiser, Caspar; Lepinteur, Anthony |
| Abstract: | Economists routinely use survey measures of, for example, risk preferences, trust, political attitudes, or wellbeing. The literature generally treats numerical response categories as if they represent equal psychological intervals. We provide the first systematic test of this assumption, developing a general framework to quantify how easily results can be overturned when this linearity assumption is relaxed. Using original experimental data, we show that respondents interpret survey scales in ways that do deviate from linearity, but only mildly. Focusing on wellbeing research, we then replicate 30, 000+ coefficient estimates across more than 80 papers published in top economics journals. Replicated coefficient signs are remarkably robust to mild departures from linear scale-use. However, statistical inference and estimates of relative effect magnitudes become unreliable, even under modest departures from linearity. This is especially problematic for policy applications. We show that these concerns generalise to many other widely used survey-based constructs. |
| Date: | 2025–07–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:3gmzy_v1 |