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on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty |
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Issue of 2006‒07‒21
two papers chosen by |
| By: | Ono, Hiroshi (European Institute of Japanese Studies); Lee, Kristen Schultz (Penn State University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationship between specialization and happiness in marriage in the U.S. and Japan. Our findings, based on the General Social Surveys in the U.S. and Japan, indicate both similarities and differences in the determinants of marital happiness in the two countries. In the U.S., the findings are mixed. Women in the U.S. are more likely to embrace the bargaining model where their happiness is determined by their own income. Men in the U.S. are more likely to support the specialization model; they are happier if their wives are not working or, alternatively, if they are financially dependent on their wives. In Japan, we find support for the specialization model, particularly in the case of women; they are happier if they are specialized in the household and they have a higher household income. Our research highlights how marital quality is affected by the institutional context and the normative environment. |
| Keywords: | gender; family; marital happiness; specialization; bargaining |
| JEL: | D13 J12 J16 |
| Date: | 2006–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:hastef:0631&r=ltv |
| By: | Andrew J. Oswald (University of Warwick and IZA Bonn); Nattavudh Powdthavee (University of London) |
| Abstract: | Economics ignores the possibility of hedonic adaptation (the idea that people bounce back from utility shocks). This paper argues that economists are wrong to do so. It provides longitudinal evidence that individuals who become disabled go on to exhibit recovery in mental wellbeing. Adaptation to severe disability, however, is shown to be incomplete. The paper suggests ways to calculate the level of compensatory damages for the pain and suffering from disablement. Courts all over the world currently use ad hoc methods. |
| Keywords: | disability, adaptation, happiness, legal compensation, wellbeing, GHQ scores |
| JEL: | D1 I3 I31 K0 |
| Date: | 2006–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2208&r=ltv |