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Well-being over time in Britain and the USA
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Blanchflower, David G. and Oswald, Andrew J. (2002) Well-being over time in Britain and the USA. Journal of Public Economics, Vol.88 (No.7-8). pp. 1359-1386. doi:10.1016/S0047-2727(02)00168-8
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2727(02)00168-8
Abstract
This paper studies happiness in the United States and Great Britain. Reported levels of well-being have declined over the last quarter of a century in the US; life satisfaction has run approximately flat through time in Britain. These findings are consistent with the Easterlin hypothesis [Nations and Households in Economic Growth: Essays in Honour of Moses Abramowitz (1974) Academic Press; J. Econ. Behav. Org., 27 (1995) 35]. The happiness of American blacks, however, has risen. White women in the US have been the biggest losers since the 1970s. Well-being equations have a stable structure. Money buys happiness. People care also about relative income. Well-being is U-shaped in age. The paper estimates the dollar values of events like unemployment and divorce. They are large. A lasting marriage (compared to widowhood as a ‘natural’ experiment), for example, is estimated to be worth $100,000 a year.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory | ||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics | ||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Happiness, Macroeconomics, Well-being -- United States, Well-being -- Great Britain | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Public Economics | ||||
Publisher: | Elsevier BV | ||||
ISSN: | 0047-2727 | ||||
Official Date: | 5 December 2002 | ||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | Vol.88 | ||||
Number: | No.7-8 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 1359-1386 | ||||
DOI: | 10.1016/S0047-2727(02)00168-8 | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Access rights to Published version: | Open Access |
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