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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2011‒02‒26
three papers chosen by |
| By: | Maurizio Franzini (Università di Roma “La Sapienza”); Mario Pianta (Department of Economics, Università di Urbino "Carlo Bo") |
| Abstract: | In this paper we offer an introductory exploration of inequality, considering how political economy has analysed economic inequality. Its roots in market processes and in the functional distribution of income are investigated, considering the role of human capital, technological change and globalisation, and the relevance of intergenerational inequalities. We then consider the impact that public policies can have on inequalities through taxation, welfare expenditures, the provision of public services, redistribution and other actions. |
| Keywords: | Inequality, Distribution, Welfare. |
| JEL: | D31 D33 E24 I38 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:urb:wpaper:11_02&r=hap |
| By: | Powdthavee, Nattavudh (University of York); van den Berg, Bernard (University of York) |
| Abstract: | Many recent writings in health policy have proposed that health be valued directly and in monetary terms using the new well-being valuation method. Yet there is currently no clear consensus on what the best measure of individual’s experience may be for the evaluation process. To shed light on this issue, monetary values for a number of health problems are compared across different well-being measures within the same UK data set. We find that, while there is strong internal consistency of health impacts within each well-being measure, hugely different monetary valuations are obtained for the same health problem across different well-being measures. Our results, although should only viewed as illustrative, call for economists to rethink about which measure of well-being or experienced utility to be used in the well-being valuation method, should the approach ever be implemented in real policy contexts. |
| Keywords: | well-being, compensation variations, monetary valuations, happiness, health, GHQ |
| JEL: | H8 I18 I31 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5493&r=hap |
| By: | Bernard M.S. van Praag (University of Amsterdam, IZA, CESifo, DIW); Dmitri Romanov (Central Bureau of Statistics, Jerusalem, Israel); Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell (Institut d'Analisi Economica (IAE-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain and IZA) |
| Abstract: | We analyze individual satisfaction with life as a whole and satisfaction with the personal financial situation for Israeli citizens of Jewish and Arab descent. Our data set is the Israeli Social Survey (2006). We are especially interested in the impact of the religions Judaism, Islam and Christianity, where we are able to differentiate between individuals who vary in religiosity between secular and ultra-orthodox. We find a significant effect of religiosity on happiness. With respect to Jewish families it is most striking that the impact of family size on both life and financial satisfaction seems to vary with religiosity. This might be a reason for differentiation in family equivalence scales. For Arab families we did not find this effect. First-generation immigrants are less happy than second-generation immigrants, while there is no significant difference between second-generation families and native families. The effect of the Lebanon War is much less than expected. |
| Keywords: | Happiness; subjective well-being; financial satisfaction; Israel; religion; immigration; terrorism |
| JEL: | H56 I31 N35 N45 R23 Z12 |
| Date: | 2010–09–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20100095&r=hap |