|
on Economics of Happiness |
|
Issue of 2025–03–10
seven papers chosen by Viviana Di Giovinazzo, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca |
| By: | Kim, Sang-O; Palm, Matthew; Han, Soojung; Klein, Nicholas J. (Conrell University) |
| Abstract: | Transportation scholars are keenly interested in the relationship between transportation and subjective well-being. To date, this body of scholarship has not addressed feelings of time pressure. We use the time crunch index from Canada’s 2015 General Social Survey (GSS) to analyze the role that transportation resources, travel behavior, and social demographics play in respondents’ self-reported experiences of time pressure. We find that resources and daily travel strongly affect the time crunch index and are compounded by the large effect of sociodemographic vulnerability, namely being a woman, immigrant, or member of an ethnic minority, and having a condition of disability. Our analysis presents a new approach for transportation scholars to measure the relationship between social well-being and transportation grounded in several decades of social science research on time use and well-being. |
| Date: | 2023–12–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:z6tvd_v1 |
| By: | Weaich, Malcolm (University of Witwatersrand) |
| Abstract: | This study interrogates the conceptual frameworks surrounding young people's livelihood strategies, particularly focusing on those contending with acute insecurity and precariousness in the Global South. A bibliometric analysis provides a critical evaluation of the shifting landscape of future work, revealing substantive gaps in literature related to young people, their wellbeing, and livelihoods. These gaps are most pronounced in the articulation of livelihood components and their interconnections with wellbeing, sustainable development, and equitable energy transitions. Addressing these lacunae, the study enhances the conceptual understanding of access within livelihoods research and advocates for the integration of a Relational Well-Being approach. This research underscores the salience of relationality in comprehending young people's future livelihoods, seeking to provide an objective nuanced understanding of the interplay between livelihood strategies and the multifarious aspects of wellbeing. In particular, the study delineates three pivotal categories for future research: examining the impact of social relationships and community networks on the livelihood strategies and wellbeing of young people; identifying the barriers and facilitators to sustainable livelihoods within the prism of Relational Well-Being; and exploring how the Relational Well-Being framework can refine existing conceptualisations of livelihood and wellbeing, aimed at forging sustainable interventions. By critically engaging with the definitions and scope of “young people” in scholarly inquiry, this study fosters a deeper engagement with young people's lived realities, their livelihoods, and Relational Well-Being, with an expanded emphasis on the Global South. The outcome of this research develops twenty possible future studies from the data analysed. |
| Date: | 2024–03–18 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:fhng9_v1 |
| By: | Ruottunen, Sonja |
| Abstract: | This article examines the wellbeing implications of activation policies, focusing on the lived experiences of long-term unemployed jobseekers with public employment services. Using a phenomenological approach and the theory of sustainable wellbeing as a framework, the article explores how activation services function as either need satisfiers or barriers across four well-being dimensions: having, loving, doing, and being. Drawing on 24 individual and 4 focus group interviews in the city of Espoo in Finland, the findings highlight the potential of group-form services enhance wellbeing, particularly in the doing dimension through providing meaningful activity and fostering a sense of autonomy and capability. At best, providing meaningful activity could lead to improvements in the being dimension of wellbeing, such as improved self-image and functional ability, creating a self-reinforcing circle of wellbeing. However, to offer successful need satisfiers, group form services had to also support the loving dimension by offering experiences of social relatedness. Additionally, the interviewees lived experiences highlight conditionality as a need barrier, as jobseekers may prioritize maintaining basic material needs over engagement, fearing benefit loss. Ultimately, the article argues for a holistic approach to welfare policy design, considering the interplay of different wellbeing needs to create more inclusive support structures. |
| Date: | 2025–02–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:xgn3v_v1 |
| By: | Decerf, Benoit Marie A; Friedman, Jed; Galego Mendes, Arthur; Pennings, Steven Michael; Yonzan, Nishant |
| Abstract: | This study compares the magnitude of national level losses that the COVID-19 pandemic inflicted across three critical dimensions: loss of life, loss of income, and loss of learning. The well-being consequences of excess mortality are expressed in years of life lost, while those of income losses and school closures are expressed in additional years spent in poverty (measured by national poverty lines), either currently or in the future. While 2020–21 witnessed a global drop in life expectancy and the largest one-year increase in global poverty in many decades, widespread school closures may cause almost twice as large an increase in future poverty. The estimates of well-being loss for the average global citizen include a loss of 8 days of life, an additional two and half weeks spent in poverty in 2020 and 2021 (17 days), and the possibility of an additional month of life in poverty in the future due to school closures (31 days). Well-being losses are unequally distributed across countries. The typical high-income country suffered the least additional poverty years while low- and low-middle-income countries suffered far higher poverty losses with roughly the same degree of mortality shock as richer countries. Upper-middle income countries experienced the highest mortality shock of all and also high poverty costs. Aggregating total losses requires the valuation of a year of life lost vis-à-vis an additional year spent in poverty. For the wide range of valuations considered, high-income countries experienced the lowest well-being loss. Aggregate losses were much higher among lower-income countries. This is especially true for countries in the Latin America region who suffered the largest mortality costs as well as large losses in learning and sharp increases in poverty. |
| Date: | 2024–03–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10728 |
| By: | Coen van de Kraats (Erasmus University Rotterdam and Tinbergen Institute); Titus Galama (University of Southern California, Center for Economic and Social Research and Department of Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Tinbergen Institute); Maarten Lindeboom (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University, Tinbergen Institute and IZA); Zichen Deng (School of Economics, University of Amsterdam; FAIR Centre) |
| 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 institutions |
| JEL: | I10 I31 J60 D63 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mhe:chemon:2025-04 |
| By: | Gutierrez, Eylla Laire M.; Rueda, Diana |
| Abstract: | For years, women’s involvement in entrepreneurial activities has been widely advocated as part of economic development agendas. This is evidenced by numerous initiatives, projects, and roadmaps that promote women's integration into economic activities through entrepreneurship. Underpinning these efforts is the assumption that women's active participation in economic activities leads to improved well-being and empowerment. While this is an essential step toward improving women’s conditions, the realities are more complex. Beyond the economic contributions of such entrepreneurial activities, other facets—such as psychological, social, and political dimensions—also need to be considered. This study primarily addresses the question: “How does women’s engagement in micro-enterprising facilitate their own and their communities’ human flourishing and empowerment?” More specifically, it examines the critical role of sari-sari stores in the socio-economic landscape of the Philippines, with a particular focus on their contributions to community development and women's flourishing and empowerment. While sari-sari store owners often face financial constraints, this research highlights a significant relationship between micro-entrepreneurship, human flourishing, and empowerment. Through the analysis of the Flourishing Index, Secured Flourishing Index measures, and the Empowerment Model, the findings reveal that women sari-sari store owners exhibit high levels of well-being, empowerment, optimism, and resilience, despite limited economic prosperity. The study further explores how sari-sari stores serve not only as micro-retail enterprises but also as platforms for fostering individual and social well-being. The owners demonstrate psychological and social empowerment through the ownership of sari-sari stores, while economic and political empowerment is still a work in progress. The results suggest that women, through the ownership of sari-sari stores, achieve individual well-being while also extending that well-being to their communities. Thus, this study offers a nuanced perspective on the significance of sari-sari stores, not just for the economic development of communities but also for the individual and social well-being of their women owners. Comments on this paper are welcome within 60 days from the date of posting. Email publications@pids.gov.ph. |
| Keywords: | microentrepreneurship;female leadership;women empowerment;human flourishing |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2024-50 |
| By: | Decerf, Benoit Marie A |
| Abstract: | Multidimensional well-being indicators have the potential to reduce the “bias” associated to monetary indicators. However, they face stringent data constraints. This paper studies the construction of indicators that strike a balance between (i) reliability in approximating conceptually sound well-being comparisons and (ii) simplicity of application and communication. The recommendations focus on globalmultidimensional poverty measures. The paper identifies three potential sources of improvements: “wasting” less data, better filtering the data, and further developing multidimensional analysis. Less information would be “wasted” by avoiding needlessly dichotomizing all the variables, using the available mortality data, and combining variables from separate surveys. To filter the data better, “equal weights” could be replaced by weights selected from external information on preferences. When the data permit, the unit of analysis should be switched from household level to individual level. Finally, multidimensional indicators should be used to help move beyond a suboptimal “dimension-by-dimension” approach to policy making. |
| Date: | 2024–06–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10800 |