Gardner, Jonathan and Oswald, Andrew J. . (2006) Money and mental wellbeing : a longitudinal study of medium-sized lottery wins. Journal of Health Economics, Vol.26 (No.1). pp. 49-60. ISSN 0167-6296

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Abstract

One of the famous questions in social science is whether money makes people happy. We offer new evidence by using longitudinal data on a random sample of Britons who receive medium-sized lottery wins of between £1000 and £120,000 (that is, up to approximately US$ 200,000). When compared to two control groups – one with no wins and the other with small wins – these individuals go on eventually to exhibit significantly better psychological health. Two years after a lottery win, the average measured improvement in mental wellbeing is 1.4 GHQ points.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Lottery winners -- Great Britain, Happiness -- Great Britain
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Health Economics
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
ISSN:	0167-6296
Date:	1 September 2006
Volume:	Vol.26
Number:	No.1
Page Range:	pp. 49-60
Identification Number:	10.1016/j.jhealeco.2006.08.004
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
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URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/320

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