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Community, Comparisons and Subjective Well-being in a Divided Society

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Author Info
Geeta Kingdon (Centre for the Study of African Economies)
John Knight (Economics Department , University of Oxford)

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Abstract

Using a South African data set, the paper poses six questions about the determinants of subjective well-being. Much of the paper is concerned with the role of relative concepts. We find that comparator income – measured as average income of others in the local residential cluster - enters the household’s utility function positively but that income of more distant others (others in the district or province) enters negatively. The ordered probit equations indicate that, as well as comparator groups based on spatial proximity, race-based comparator groups are important in the racially divided South African society. It is also found that relative income is more important to happiness at higher levels of absolute income. Potential explanations of these results, and their implications, are considered.

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Paper provided by EconWPA in its series Development and Comp Systems with number 0409067.

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Length: 32 pages
Date of creation: 28 Sep 2004
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Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpdc:0409067

Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 32
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Related research
Keywords: Subjective well-being; happiness; comparator groups; altruism; envy; relative deprivation; standard-setting; race; South Africa;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism
A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines
I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General

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References listed on IDEAS
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Fafchamps, Marcel & Shilpi, Forhad, 2006. "Subjective Welfare, Isolation and Relative Consumption," CEPR Discussion Papers 6002, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Justina A.V. Fischer & Benno Torgler, 2006. "Does Envy Destroy Social Fundamentals? The Impact Of Relative Income Position On Social Capital," STICERD - Development Economics Papers 46, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Van Landeghem, Bert & Swinnen, Johan & Vranken, Liesbet, 2008. "Land and Happiness: Land Distribution and Subjective Well-Being in Moldova," 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium 44375, European Association of Agricultural Economists. [Downloadable!]
  4. Benno Torgler & Sascha L. Schmidt & Bruno S. Frey, 2006. "Relative Income Position And Performance: An Empirical Panel Analysis," IEW - Working Papers iewwp268, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Andrew E. Clark & Orsolya Lelkes, 2009. "Let us pray: religious interactions in life satisfaction," PSE Working Papers 2009-01, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  6. Emma Samman, 2007. "Psychological and Subjective Wellbeing: A Proposal for Internationally Comparable Indicators," OPHI Working Papers ophiwp006, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Eduardo Lora & Juan Camilo Chaparro, 2008. "The Conflictive Relationship between Satisfaction and Income," RES Working Papers 4599, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  8. Clark, Andrew E. & Kristensen, Nicolai & Westergård-Nielsen, Niels, 2008. "Economic Satisfaction and Income Rank in Small Neighbourhoods," IZA Discussion Papers 3813, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Andrew E. Clark & Claudia Senik, 2008. "Who compares to whom? The anatomy of income comparisons in Europe," PSE Working Papers 2008-65, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure), revised Sep 2009. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Bert G.M. Van Landeghem, 2008. "Human Well-Being over the Life Cycle: Longitudinal Evidence from a 20-Year Panel," LICOS Discussion Papers 21308, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, K.U.Leuven. [Downloadable!]
  11. John F. Heliwell & Haifang Huang, 2005. "How's the Job? Well-Being and Social Capital in the Workplace," NBER Working Papers 11759, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. John Knight & Lina Song & Ramani Gunatilaka, 2007. "Subjective Well-being and its Determinants in Rural China," Economics Series Working Papers 334, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  15. Fafchamps, Marcel & Shilpi, Forhad, 2006. "Isolation and Subjective Welfare," CEPR Discussion Papers 6001, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  16. Russell Smyth & Ingrid Nielsen & Qingguo Zhai & Tiemin Liu & Yin Liu & C.Y. Tang & Zhihong Wang & Zuxiang Wang & Juyong Zhang, 2008. "Environmental Surroundings And Personal Well-Being In Urban China," Monash Economics Working Papers 32/08, Monash University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  17. Geeta Kingdon & John Knight, 2006. "Subjective well-being poverty vs . Income poverty and capabilities poverty?," The Journal of Development Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 42(7), pages 1199-1224, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Roger Guesnerie & Pedro Jara-Moroni, 2009. "Expectational coordination in simple economic contexts: concepts and analysis with emphasis on strategic substitutabilities," PSE Working Papers 2009-27, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
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