| Abstract: |
We show that hosting the Olympic Games in 2012 had a positive impact on the
life satisfaction and happiness of Londoners during the Games, compared to
residents of Paris and Berlin. Notwithstanding issues of causal inference, the
magnitude of the effects is equivalent to moving from the bottom to the fourth
income decile. But they do not last very long: the effects are gone within a
year. These conclusions are based on a novel panel survey of 26,000
individuals who were interviewed during the summers of 2011, 2012, and 2013,
i.e. before, during, and after the event. The results are robust to selection
into the survey and to the number of medals won. |