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Happiness Research: State and Prospects

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Author Info
Bruno S. Frey

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Abstract

Distortions in memory impose important bounds on rationality but have been largely disregarded in economics. While it is possible to learn, it is more difficult, and sometimes impossible, to unlearn. This retention effect lowers individual utility directly or via reduced productivity, and adds costs to principal-agent relationships. The imprinting effect states that the more one tries to forget a piece of information the more vivid it stays in memory, leading to a paradoxical outcome. The effects are based on, and are supported by, psychological experiments, and it is shown that they are relevant in many economic situations and beyond.

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Paper provided by Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW in its series IEW - Working Papers with number iewwp192.

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Handle: RePEc:zur:iewwpx:192

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Related research
Keywords: Memory; bounded rationality; learning; retention; ironic process theory; principalagency theory;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search, Learning, and Information
J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
M20 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Business Economics - - - General
Z00 - Other Special Topics - - General - - - General

References listed on IDEAS
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.:

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  7. Rafael Lalive & Alois Stutzer, 2004. "Approval of Equal Rights and Gender Differences in Well-Being," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Alois Stutzer & Bruno S. Frey, . "Does Marriage Make People Happy, Or Do Happy People Get Married?," IEW - Working Papers iewwp143, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Clark, Andrew E & Georgellis, Yannis & Sanfey, Peter, 2001. "Scarring: The Psychological Impact of Past Unemployment," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 68(270), pages 221-41, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Frijters, Paul & Shields, Michael A. & Theodoropoulos, Nikolaos & Wheatley Price, Stephen, 2003. "Testing for Employee Discrimination Using Matched Employer-Employee Data: Theory and Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 807, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  14. Bruno S. Frey & Simon Luechinger & Alois Stutzer, . "Valuing Public Goods: The Life Satisfaction Approach," IEW - Working Papers iewwp184, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
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  15. Hens,Thorsten & Herings,P. Jean-Jacques & Predtetchinskii,Arkadi, 2003. "Limits to Arbitrage when Market Participation Is Restricted," Research Memoranda 061, Maastricht : METEOR, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization. [Downloadable!]
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  16. Bruno S. Frey & Simon Luechinger, . "Measuring Terrorism," IEW - Working Papers iewwp171, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  17. Rafael Lalive, 2007. "Do Wages Compensate for Workplace Disamenities?," Applied Economics Quarterly (formerly: Konjunkturpolitik), Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 53(3), pages 273-298.
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  19. Alois Stutzer & Rafael Lalive, 2004. "The Role of Social Work Norms in Job Searching and Subjective Well-Being," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 2(4), pages 696-719, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. Silvia Pezzini, 2005. "The Effect of Women's Rights on Women's Welfare: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(502), pages C208-C227, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  24. Portney, Paul R, 1994. "The Contingent Valuation Debate: Why Economists Should Care," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 3-17, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  26. Blomquist, Glenn C & Berger, Mark C & Hoehn, John P, 1988. "New Estimates of Quality of Life in Urban Areas," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(1), pages 89-107, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  28. Jonathan Gruber & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2002. "Do Cigarette Taxes Make Smokers Happier?," NBER Working Papers 8872, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  29. Frey, Bruno S. & Meier, Stephan, 2006. "The Economics of Museums," Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  30. Kenneth Y. Chay & Michael Greenstone, 2005. "Does Air Quality Matter? Evidence from the Housing Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(2), pages 376-424, April.
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  31. Luttmer, Erzo F. P., 2004. "Neighbors as Negatives: Relative Earnings and Well-Being," Working Paper Series rwp04-029, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. [Downloadable!]
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  32. Matthew Rabin, 1998. "Psychology and Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 11-46, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  33. Alois Stutzer & Bruno S. Frey, 2008. "Stress that Doesn't Pay: The Commuting Paradox," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 110(2), pages 339-366, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  34. Rosen, Sherwin, 1974. "Hedonic Prices and Implicit Markets: Product Differentiation in Pure Competition," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(1), pages 34-55, Jan.-Feb.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  36. Ernst Fehr & John A. List, 2004. "THE HIDDEN COSTS AND RETURNS OF INCENTIVES — TRUST AND TRUSTWORTHINESS AMONG CEOs," Labor and Demography 0409012, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  37. Igor Evstigneev & Thorsten Hens & Klaus Reiner Schenk-Hoppé, 2003. "Evolutionary Stable Stock Markets," Discussion Papers 03-39, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  38. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2000. "Gender Differences in Pay," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 75-99, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  39. Welsch, Heinz, 2002. "Preferences over Prosperity and Pollution: Environmental Valuation Based on Happiness Surveys," Kyklos, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 55(4), pages 473-94.
  40. Richard E. Lucas & Andrew Clark & Yannis Georgellis & Ed Diener, 2002. "Re-Examining Adaptation and the Setpoint Model of Happiness: Reactions to Changes in Marital Status," DELTA Working Papers 2002-08, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
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  42. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, . "Testing Theories of Happiness," IEW - Working Papers iewwp147, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  43. Di Tella, Rafael & MacCulloch, Robert J. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2001. "The Macroeconomics of Happiness," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 615, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  44. Richard Carson & Robert Mitchell & Michael Hanemann & Raymond Kopp & Stanley Presser & Paul Ruud, 2003. "Contingent Valuation and Lost Passive Use: Damages from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 25(3), pages 257-286, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  47. Chun, Hyunbae & Lee, Injae, 2001. "Why Do Married Men Earn More: Productivity or Marriage Selection?," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 39(2), pages 307-19, April.
  48. Bruno S. Frey & Simon Luechinger, . "Terrorism: Deterrence May Backfire," IEW - Working Papers iewwp136, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  49. Foellmi, Reto & Oechslin, Manuel, 2007. "Who gains from non-collusive corruption?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 95-119, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Full references

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. Ernst Fehr & Susanne Kremhelmer & Klaus M. Schmidt, . "Fairness and the Optimal Allocation of Ownership Rights," IEW - Working Papers iewwp224, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Bruno S. Frey, . "Happiness Research: State and Prospects," IEW - Working Papers iewwp192, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Philipp C. Wichardt & Pavlo R. Blavatskyy, . "Base-Rate Neglect and Imperfect Information Acquisition," IEW - Working Papers iewwp233, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  4. Merz, Joachim & Rathjen, Tim, 2009. "Time and Income Poverty: An Interdependent Multidimensional Poverty Approach with German Time Use Diary Data," IZA Discussion Papers 4337, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  5. Stefan Mann, 2007. "Comparing Interpersonal Comparisons in Utility Theory and Happiness Research," Forum for Social Economics, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 29-42, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Bruno S. Frey & Simon Luechinger & Alois Stutzer, . "Calculating Tragedy: Assessing the Costs of Terrorism," IEW - Working Papers iewwp205, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
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  7. David G. Blanchflower, 2008. "International evidence on well-being," NBER Working Papers 14318, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Peter Woehrmann & Willi Semmler & Martin Lettau, . "Nonparametric Estimation of the Time-varying Sharpe Ratio in Dynamic Asset Pricing Models," IEW - Working Papers iewwp225, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  9. 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!]
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  10. Steffen Huck & Michael Kosfeld, . "The Dynamics of Neighbourhood Watch and Norm Enforcement," IEW - Working Papers iewwp199, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Philipp C. Wichardt, . "An Application of Global Games to Signalling Models," IEW - Working Papers iewwp223, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  12. Salvador Barberà & Anke Gerber, . "A Note on the Impossibility of a Satisfactory Concept of Stability for Coalition Formation Games," IEW - Working Papers iewwp238, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, . "Making International Organizations More Democratic," IEW - Working Papers iewwp217, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Patrick Leoni, . "Learning in Repeated Games without Repeating the Game," IEW - Working Papers iewwp215, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  15. Margit Osterloh & Bruno S. Frey, . "Shareholders Should Welcome Employees as Directors," IEW - Working Papers iewwp228, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
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  16. Jani-Petri Laamanen & Kaisa Kotakorpi, 2007. "Welfare State and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from Public Health Care," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-053/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
  17. Pavlo Blavatskyy, . "Why the Olympics have three prizes and not just one," IEW - Working Papers iewwp200, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  18. Anke Gerber, . "Learning in and about Games," IEW - Working Papers iewwp234, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  19. Peter Woehrmann, . "A dynamic model of the financial–real interaction as a model selection criterion for nonparametric stock market prediction," IEW - Working Papers iewwp226, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-10-22.

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