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Hypertension and happiness across nations

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Blanchflower, David G. and Oswald, Andrew J. . (2007) Hypertension and happiness across nations. Journal of Health Economics , Vol.27 (No.2). pp. 218-233. ISSN 0167-6296

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2007.06.002 ...

Abstract

In surveys of well-being, countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands emerge as particularly happy while nations like Germany and Italy report lower levels of happiness. But are these kinds of findings credible? This paper provides some evidence that the answer is yes. Using data on 16 countries, it shows that happier nations report systematically lower levels of hypertension. As well as potentially validating the differences in measured happiness across nations, this suggests that blood-pressure readings might be valuable as part of a national well-being index. A new ranking of European nations’ GHQ-N6 mental health scores is also given.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Happiness, Hypertension, Well-being
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Health Economics
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
ISSN:	0167-6296
Date:	29 November 2007
Volume:	Vol.27
Number:	No.2
Page Range:	pp. 218-233
Identification Number:	10.1016/j.jhealeco.2007.06.002
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
Funder:	Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC)
Grant number:	ESRC professorial research fellowship
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URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/322