1932
0
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Annual Review of Economics
  4. Volume 16, 2024
  5. Article

Annual Review of Economics

Volume 16, 2024

From Happiness Data to Economic Conclusions

Abstract

Happiness data—survey respondents’ self-reported well-being (SWB)—have become increasingly common in economics research, with recent calls to use them in policymaking. Researchers have used SWB data in novel ways—for example, to learn about welfare or preferences when choice data are unavailable or difficult to interpret. Focusing on leading examples of this pioneering research, the first part of this review uses a simple theoretical framework to reverse-engineer some of the crucial assumptions that underlie existing applications. The second part discusses evidence bearing on these assumptions and provides practical advice to the agencies and institutions that generate SWB data, the researchers who use them, and the policymakers who may use the resulting research. While we advocate creative uses of SWB data in economics, we caution that their use in policy will likely require both additional data collection and further research to better understand the data.

Keyword(s): happiness, JEL D00, JEL D90, JEL I31, life satisfaction, preferences, self-reported well-being, survey methodology, SWB, welfare measures
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-081623-021136
2024-08-22
2024-12-12
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/economics/16/1/annurev-economics-081623-021136.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-081623-021136&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Adler MD. 2019.. Measuring Social Welfare: An Introduction. New York:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Adler MD, Dolan P, Kavetsos G. 2017.. Would you choose to be happy? Tradeoffs between happiness and the other dimensions of life in a large population survey. . J. Econ. Behav. Organ. 139::60–73
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  3. Adler MD, Fleurbaey M, eds. 2016.. The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Aghion P, Akcigit U, Deaton A, Roulet A. 2016.. Creative destruction and subjective well-being. . Am. Econ. Rev. 106:(12):3869–97
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  5. Alesina A, Di Tella R, MacCulloch R. 2004.. Inequality and happiness: Are Europeans and Americans different?. J. Public Econ. 88:(9–10):2009–42
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  6. Andreoni J. 1989.. Giving with impure altruism: applications to charity and Ricardian equivalence. . J. Political Econ. 97:(6):1447–58
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  7. Angelini V, Cavapozzi D, Corazzini L, Paccagnella O. 2014.. Do Danes and Italians rate life satisfaction in the same way? Using vignettes to correct for individual-specific scale biases. . Oxf. Bull. Econ. Stat. 76:(5):643–66
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  8. Angner E. 2011.. The evolution of eupathics: the historical roots of subjective measures of wellbeing. . Int. J. Wellbeing 1:(1):4–41
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  9. Becker GS, Rayo L. 2008.. Comment on “Economic growth and subjective wellbeing: reassessing the Easterlin paradox” by Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers. . Brook. Pap. Econ. Act. Spring::88–95
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  10. Bénabou R, Tirole J. 2006.. Incentives and prosocial behavior. . Am. Econ. Rev. 96:(5):1652–78
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  11. Benjamin DJ, Cooper K, Heffetz O, Kimball MS. 2017.. Challenges in constructing a survey-based well-being index. . Am. Econ. Rev. 107:(5):81–85
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  12. Benjamin DJ, Cooper K, Heffetz O, Kimball MS. 2020.. Self-reported wellbeing indicators are a valuable complement to traditional economic indicators but are not yet ready to compete with them. . Behav. Public Policy 4:(2):198–209
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  13. Benjamin DJ, Cooper K, Heffetz O, Kimball MS, Zhou J. 2023a.. Adjusting for scale-use heterogeneity in self-reported well-being. NBER Work. Pap. 31728
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Benjamin DJ, Debnam Guzman J, Fleurbaey M, Heffetz O, Kimball MS. 2023b.. What do happiness data mean? Theory and survey evidence. . J. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 21:(6):2377–412
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  15. Benjamin DJ, Heffetz O, Kimball MS, Rees-Jones A. 2012.. What do you think would make you happier? What do you think you would choose?. Am. Econ. Rev. 102:(5):2083–110
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  16. Benjamin DJ, Heffetz O, Kimball MS, Rees-Jones A. 2014a.. Can marginal rates of substitution be inferred from happiness data? Evidence from residency choices. . Am. Econ. Rev. 104:(11):3498–528
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  17. Benjamin DJ, Heffetz O, Kimball MS, Szembrot N. 2014b.. Beyond happiness and satisfaction: toward well-being indices based on stated preference. . Am. Econ. Rev. 104:(9):2698–735
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  18. Bentham J. 1789.. An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. London:: T. Payne and Son
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Bernheim BD. 2016.. The good, the bad, and the ugly: a unified approach to behavioral welfare economics. . J. Benefit-Cost Anal. 7:(1):12–68
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  20. Bertoni M. 2015.. Hungry today, unhappy tomorrow? Childhood hunger and subjective wellbeing later in life. . J. Health Econ. 40::40–53
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  21. Beshears J, Choi JJ, Laibson D, Madrian BC. 2008.. How are preferences revealed?. J. Public Econ. 92:(8–9):1787–94
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  22. Bishop GF. 1987.. Context effects on self-perceptions of interest in government and public affairs. . In Social Information Processing and Survey Methodology, ed. H-J Hippler, N Schwarz, S Sudman , pp. 179–99. New York:: Springer
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Blanchflower DG. 2020.. Is happiness U-shaped everywhere? Age and subjective well-being in 145 countries. . J. Popul. Econ. 34::575–624
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  24. Blanchflower DG, Bryson A. 2023.. The gender well-being gap. NBER Work. Pap. 31212
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Blanchflower DG, Oswald AJ. 2004.. Well-being over time in Britain and the USA. . J. Public Econ. 88:(7–8):1359–86
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  26. Blanchflower DG, Oswald AJ. 2008.. Is well-being U-shaped over the life cycle?. Soc. Sci. Med. 66::1733–49
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  27. Bloem JR. 2021.. How much does the cardinal treatment of ordinal variables matter? An empirical investigation. . Political Anal. 30:(2):197–213
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  28. Bloem JR, Oswald AJ. 2022.. The analysis of human feelings: a practical suggestion for a robustness test. . Rev. Income Wealth 68:(3):689–710
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  29. Bond TN, Lang K. 2019.. The sad truth about happiness scales. . J. Political Econ. 127:(4):1629–40
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  30. Brickman P, Coates D, Janoff-Bulman R. 1978.. Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative?. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 36:(8):917–27
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  31. Chen L-Y, Oparina E, Powdthavee N, Srisuma S. 2022.. Robust ranking of happiness outcomes: a median regression perspective. . J. Econ. Behav. Organ. 200::672–86
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  32. Clark A. 2016.. SWB as a measure of individual well-being. . See Adler & Fleurbaey 2016 , pp. 518–32
  33. Clark A. 2018.. Four decades of the economics of happiness: where next?. Rev. Income Wealth 64:(2):245–69
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  34. Clark A, Oswald AJ. 2002.. A simple statistical method for measuring how life events affect happiness. . Int. J. Epidemiol. 31:(6):1139–44
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  35. Corrado L, Weeks M. 2010.. Identification strategies in survey response using vignettes. Cambridge Work. Pap. Econ. , Univ. Cambridge, Cambridge, UK:. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.1107
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Datta Gupta N, Kristensen N, Pozzoli D. 2010.. External validation of the use of vignettes in cross-country health studies. . Econ. Model. 27:(4):854–65
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  37. Deaton A. 2008.. Income, health, and well-being around the world: evidence from the Gallup World Poll. . J. Econ. Perspect. 22:(2):53–72
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  38. Deaton A. 2011.. Comment on “Work disability, work, and justification bias in Europe and the U.S. .” In Explorations in the Economics of Aging, ed. DA Wise , pp. 312–14. Chicago:: Univ. Chicago Press
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Deaton A. 2012.. The financial crisis and the well-being of Americans: 2011 OEP Hicks Lecture. . Oxf. Econ. Pap. 64:(1):1–26
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  40. Deaton A. 2018.. What do self-reports of wellbeing say about life-cycle theory and policy?. J. Public Econ. 162::18–25
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  41. Deaton A, Fortson J, Tortora R. 2010.. Life (evaluation), HIV/AIDS, and death in Africa. . In International Differences in Well-Being, ed. DK Diener, J Helliwell , pp. 105–37. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Deaton A, Stone AA. 2014.. Evaluative and hedonic wellbeing among those with and without children at home. . PNAS 111:(4):1328–33
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  43. Deaton A, Stone AA. 2016.. Understanding context effects for a measure of life evaluation: how responses matter. . Oxf. Econ. Pap. 68:(4):861–70
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  44. Decancq K, Neumann D. 2016.. Does the choice of well-being measure matter empirically? An illustration with German data. . See Adler & Fleurbaey 2016 , pp. 553–87
  45. Di Tella R, MacCulloch R. 2006.. Some uses of happiness data in economics. . J. Econ. Perspect. 20:(1):25–46
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  46. Diener E. 1984.. Subjective well-being. . Psychol. Bull. 95:(3):542–75
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  47. Dolan P, Kahneman D. 2008.. Interpretations of utility and their implications for the valuation of health. . Econ. J. 118:(525):215–34
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  48. Dunn EW, Aknin LB, Norton MI. 2008.. Spending money on others promotes happiness. . Science 319:(5870):1687–88
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  49. d'Uva TB, Lindeboom M, O'Donnell O, Van Doorslaer E. 2011.. Slipping anchor? Testing the vignettes approach to identification and correction of reporting heterogeneity. . J. Hum. Resour. 46:(4):875–906
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Easterlin RA. 1974.. Does economic growth improve the human lot? Some empirical evidence. . In Nations and Households in Economic Growth: Essays in Honor of Moses Abramovitz, ed. PA David, MW Reder , pp. 89–125. Cambridge, MA:: Academic
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Easterlin RA. 1995.. Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all?. J. Econ. Behav. Organ. 27:(1):35–47
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  52. Easterlin R, O'Connor KJ. 2022.. The Easterlin paradox. . In Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics, ed. KF Zimmermann . Cham, Switz:.: Springer Int. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_184-2
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Fabian M. 2022.. Scale norming undermines the use of life satisfaction scale data for welfare analysis. . J. Happiness Stud. 23:(4):1509–41
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  54. Falk A, Graeber T. 2020.. Delayed negative effects of prosocial spending on happiness. . PNAS 117:(12):6463–68
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  55. Ferrer-i-Carbonell A, Frijters P. 2004.. How important is methodology for the estimates of the determinants of happiness?. Econ. J. 114:(497):641–59
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  56. Finkelstein A, Luttmer EFP, Notowidigdo MJ. 2013.. What good is wealth without health? The effect of health on the marginal utility of consumption. . J. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 11::221–58
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  57. Fleurbaey M, Blanchet D. 2013.. Beyond GDP: Measuring Welfare and Assessing Sustainability. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Fleurbaey M, Maniquet F. 2011.. A Theory of Fairness and Social Welfare. Cambridge, UK:: Cambridge Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  59. Fleurbaey M, Schwandt H. 2016.. Do people seek to maximize their subjective well-being—and fail? Unpublished manuscript
    [Google Scholar]
  60. Frank RH. 1985.. Choosing the Right Pond: Human Behavior and the Quest for Status. Oxford, UK:: Oxford Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  61. Frederick S, Loewenstein G. 1999.. Hedonic adaptation. . In Well-Being: The Foundations of Hedonic Psychology, ed. D Kahneman, N Schwartz, E Diener , pp. 302–29. New York:: Russell Sage Found.
     [Google Scholar]
  62. Frey BS, Stutzer A. 2002.. What can economists learn from happiness research?. J. Econ. Lit. 40:(2):402–35
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  63. Frijters P. 2021.. Measuring subjective wellbeing. . In Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics, ed. KF Zimmerman . Cham, Switz:.: Springer Int. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_189-1
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Frijters P, Clark AE, Krekel C, Layard R. 2020.. A happy choice: wellbeing as the goal of government. . Behav. Public Policy 4:(2):126–65
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  65. Fujiwara D, Dolan P. 2016.. Happiness-based policy analysis. . See Adler & Fleurbaey 2016 , pp. 286–320
  66. Giustinelli P, Manski CF, Molinari F. 2022.. Tail and center rounding of probabilistic expectations in the health and retirement study. . J. Econ. 231:(1):265–81
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  67. Glaeser EL, Gottlieb JD, Ziv O. 2016.. Unhappy cities. . J. Labor Econ. 34:(2):129–82
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  68. Glaeser EL, Redlick C. 2009.. Social capital and urban growth. . Int. Reg. Sci. Rev. 32:(3):264–99
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  69. Goodin RE. 1986.. Laundering preferences. . Found. Soc. Choice Theory 75::81–86
     [Google Scholar]
  70. Graham C. 2016.. Subjective well-being in economics. . See Adler & Fleurbaey 2016 , pp. 424–50
  71. Gruber J, Mullainathan S. 2002.. Do cigarette taxes make smokers happier? NBER Work. Pap. 8872
    [Google Scholar]
  72. Gruber J, Mullainathan S. 2005.. Do cigarette taxes make smokers happier?. B.E. J. Econ. Anal. Policy 5:(1). https://doi.org/10.1515/1538-0637.1412
    [Google Scholar]
  73. Hausman DM. 2012.. Preference, Value, Choice, and Welfare. Cambridge, UK:: Cambridge Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  74. Heffetz O, Rabin M. 2013.. Conclusions regarding cross-group differences in happiness depend on difficulty of reaching respondents. . Am. Econ. Rev. 103:(7):3001–21
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  75. Heffetz O, Reeves D. 2019.. Difficulty of reaching respondents and nonresponse bias: evidence from large government surveys. . Rev. Econ. Stat. 101:(1):176–91
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  76. Helliwell JF, Barrington-Leigh CP. 2010.. Viewpoint: measuring and understanding subjective well-being. . Can. J. Econ. 43:(3):729–53
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  77. Ifcher J, Zarghamee H, Goff SH. 2022.. Happiness in the lab: What can be learned about subjective well-being from experiments?. In Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics, ed. KF Zimmerman . Cham, Switz.:: Springer Int. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_187-1
    [Google Scholar]
  78. Junghaenel DU, Broderick JE, Schneider S, May M, Bolton A, et al. 2018.. Frames of reference in self-reports of health, well-being, fatigue, and pain: a qualitative examination. . Appl. Res. Qual. Life 13::585–601
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  79. Kahneman D, Deaton A. 2010.. High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being. . PNAS 107:(38):16489–93
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  80. Kahneman D, Krueger AB, Schkade DA, Schwarz N, Stone AA. 2004.. A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: the day reconstruction method. . Science 306::1776–80
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  81. Kahneman D, Wakker PP, Sarin R. 1997.. Back to Bentham? Explorations of experienced utility. . Q. J. Econ. 112::357–406
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  82. Kaiser C. 2022.. Using memories to assess the intrapersonal comparability of wellbeing reports. . J. Econ. Behav. Organ. 193::410–42
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  83. Kaiser C, Vendrik M. 2023.. How much can we learn from happiness data? Unpublished manuscript
    [Google Scholar]
  84. Kapteyn A, Smith JP, van Soest A. 2007.. Vignettes and self-reports of work disability in the U.S. and the Netherlands. . Am. Econ. Rev. 97:(1):461–73
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  85. Kapteyn A, Smith JP, van Soest A. 2009.. Life satisfaction. IZA Discuss. Pap. 4015 , Inst. Labor Econ., Bonn, Ger.:
     [Google Scholar]
  86. Kapteyn A, Smith JP, van Soest A, Voňkovà H. 2011.. Anchoring vignettes and response consistency. RAND Work. Pap. Ser. WR-840 , RAND, Santa Monica, CA:
     [Google Scholar]
  87. Kimball MS, Nunn R, Silverman D. 2015.. Accounting for adaptation in the economics of happiness. NBER Work. Pap. 21365
    [Google Scholar]
  88. Kimball MS, Willis R. 2006.. Happiness and utility. Unpublished manuscript
    [Google Scholar]
  89. King G, Murray CJL, Salomon JA, Tandon A. 2004.. Enhancing the validity and cross-cultural comparability of measurement in survey research. . Am. Political Sci. Rev. 98:(1):191–207
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  90. Lacey HP, Fagerlin A, Loewenstein G, Smith DM, Riis J, Ubel PA. 2008.. Are they really that happy? Exploring scale recalibration in estimates of well-being. . Health Psychol. 27:(6):669–75
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  91. Lane T. 2017.. How does happiness relate to economic behavior? A review of the literature. . J. Behav. Exp. Econ. 68::62–78
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  92. Layard R. 2005.. Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. London:: Penguin
     [Google Scholar]
  93. Layard R, De Neve J-E. 2023.. Wellbeing: Science and Policy. Cambridge, UK:: Cambridge Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  94. Lindqvist E, Östling R, Cesarini D. 2020.. Long-run effects of lottery wealth on psychological well-being. . Rev. Econ. Stud. 87:(6):2703–26
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  95. Liu S, Netzer N. 2023.. Happy times: measuring happiness using response times. Work. Pap. 371 , Dep. Econ., Univ. Zurich, Zurich, Switz.:
     [Google Scholar]
  96. Loomes G, Sugden R. 1982.. Regret theory: an alternative theory of rational choice under uncertainty. . Econ. J. 92:(368):805–24
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  97. Ludwig J, Duncan GJ, Gennetian LA, Katz LF, Kessler RC, 2012.. Neighborhood effects on the long-term well-being of low-income adults. . Science 337::1505–10
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  98. MacKerron G. 2012.. Happiness economics from 35,000 feet. . J. Econ. Surv. 26:(4):705–35
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  99. Márquez-Padilla F, Álvarez J. 2018.. Grading happiness: what grading systems tell us about cross-country wellbeing comparisons. . Econ. Bull. 38:(2):1138–55
     [Google Scholar]
  100. Montgomery M. 2022.. Reversing the gender gap in happiness. . J. Econ. Behav. Organ. 196::65–78
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  101. Nikolova M, Graham C. 2022.. The economics of happiness. . In Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics, ed. KF Zimmerman . Cham, Switz:.: Springer Int. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_177-2
    [Google Scholar]
  102. Nussbaum MC. 2000.. Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach. Cambridge, UK:: Cambridge Univ. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  103. O'Donnell G, Oswald AJ. 2015.. National well-being policy and a weighted approach to human feelings. . Ecol. Econ. 120:5970
     [Google Scholar]
  104. Oswald AJ. 2008.. On the curvature of the reporting function from objective reality to subjective feelings. . Econ. Lett. 100::369–72
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  105. Oswald AJ, Wu S. 2010.. Objective confirmation of subjective measures of human well-being: evidence from the U.S.A. . Science 327:(5965):576–79
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  106. Pavot W. 2018.. The cornerstone of research on subjective well-being: valid assessment methodology. . In Handbook of Well-Being, ed. E Diener, S Oishi, L Tay , pp. 83–93. Salt Lake City, UT:: DEF Publ.
     [Google Scholar]
  107. Peracchi F, Rossetti C. 2013.. The heterogeneous thresholds ordered response model: identification and inference. . J. R. Stat. Soc. A 176:(3):703–22
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  108. Piekałkiewicz M. 2017.. Why do economists study happiness?. Econ. Labour Relat. Rev. 28:(3):361–77
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  109. Preston CC, Colman AM. 2000.. Optimal number of response categories in rating scales: reliability, validity, discriminating power, and respondent preferences. . Acta Psychol. 104:(1):1–15
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  110. Railton P. 1986.. Moral realism. . Philos. Rev. 95:(2):163–207
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  111. Ralph K, Palmer K, Olney J. 2011.. Subjective well-being: a qualitative investigation of subjective well-being questions. Work. Pap. , Tech. Advis. Group, Off. Natl. Stat., London:
     [Google Scholar]
  112. Redelmeier DA, Kahneman D. 1996.. Patients’ memories of painful medical treatments: real-time and retrospective evaluations of two minimally invasive procedures. . Pain 66::3–8
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  113. Ross M, Eyman A, Kishchuk N. 1986.. Determinants of subjective well-being. . In Relative Deprivation and Social Comparison: The Ontario Symposium, Vol. 4, ed. JM Olson, CP Herman, MP Zanna, chap. 5 . New York:: Psychol. Press
     [Google Scholar]
  114. Ryff CD. 1989.. Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. . J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 57::1069–81
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  115. Schröder C, Yitzhaki S. 2017.. Revisiting the evidence for cardinal treatment of ordinal variables. . Eur. Econ. Rev. 92::337–58
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  116. Schwarz N, Clore GL. 1983.. Mood, misattribution, and judgments of well-being: informative and directive functions of affective states. . J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 45:(3):513–23
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  117. Schwarz N, Schuman H. 1997.. Political knowledge, attribution, and inferred interest in politics: the operation of buffer items. . Int. J. Public Opin. Res. 9:(2):191–95
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  118. Sen A. 1985.. Commodities and Capabilities. Amsterdam:: North-Holland
     [Google Scholar]
  119. Skopec L, Musco T, Sommers BD. 2014.. A potential new data source for assessing the impacts of health reform: evaluating the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. . Healthcare 2:(2):113–20
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  120. Steffel M, Oppenheimer DM. 2009.. Happy by what standard? The role of interpersonal and intrapersonal comparisons in ratings of happiness. . Soc. Indic. Res. 92:(1):69–79
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  121. Stevenson B, Wolfers J. 2009.. The paradox of declining female happiness. . Am. Econ. J. Econ. Policy 1:(2):190–225
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  122. Stiglitz JE, Sen A, Fitoussi J-P. 2009.. Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress. Rep. , Comm. Meas. Econ. Perform. Soc. Progress, Paris:. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/8131721/8131772/Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi-Commission-report.pdf
    [Google Scholar]
  123. Stone AA, Schneider S, Junghaenel DU, Broderick JE. 2019.. Response styles confound the age gradient of four health and well-being outcomes. . Soc. Sci. Res. 78::215–25
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  124. Stone AA, Schwartz J, Broderick J, Deaton A. 2010.. A snapshot of the age distribution of psychological well-being in the United States. . PNAS 107:(22):9985–90
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  125. Stutzer A, Frey BS. 2010.. Recent advances in the economics of individual subjective well-being. . Soc. Res. 77:(2):679–714
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  126. Szabó A, Ujhelyi G. 2017.. Choice and happiness in South Africa. . Econ. Lett. 155::28–30
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  127. Ubel PA, Loewenstein G, Jepson C. 2003.. Whose quality of life? A commentary exploring discrepancies between health state evaluations of patients and the general public. . Q. Life Res. 12::599–607
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  128. van Praag BMS, Ferrer-i-Carbonell A. 2010.. Happiness economics: a new road to measuring and comparing happiness. . Found. Trends Microecon. 6:(1):1–97
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  129. van Soest A, Delaney L, Harmon C, Kapteyn A, Smith JP. 2011.. Validating the use of anchoring vignettes for the correction of response scale differences in subjective questions. . J. R. Stat. Soc. A 174:(3):575–95
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  130. van Vaerenbergh Y, Thomas TD. 2013.. Response styles in survey research: a literature review of antecedents, consequences, and remedies. . Int. J. Public Opin. Res. 25:(2):195–217
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  131. Weijters B, Baumgartner H, Geuens M. 2016.. The calibrated sigma method: an efficient remedy for between-group differences in response category use on Likert scales. . Int. J. Res. Mark. 33:(4):944–60
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  132. Yap SCY, Wortman J, Anusic I, Baker SG, Scherer LD, et al. 2017.. The effect of mood on judgments of subjective well-being: nine tests of the judgment model. . J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 113:(6):939–61
     [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-081623-021136
Loading
From Happiness Data to Economic Conclusions
Annual Review of Economics 16, 359 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-081623-021136
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-081623-021136
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-081623-021136
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Supplemental Materials

  • Supplemental Materials

file format pdf download PDF
  • Article Type: Review Article

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error