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The Metrics of Subjective Wellbeing: Cardinality, Neutrality and Additivity

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  • INGEBJØRG KRISTOFFERSEN

Abstract

The use of subjective wellbeing (SWB) data in economic analysis has increased dramatically in recent years and has now become mainstream, despite some lingering concerns about the quality of these data. Although the psychology literature to a certain extent has succeeded in addressing the issues of interpersonal, intertemporal and international comparison of SWB data, the issues of cardinality, neutrality and additivity continue to be contentious among economists. This article surveys the existing literature relevant to these issues in an effort to provide clarity and thus assist SWB data users to develop more robust research designs.

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  • Ingebjørg Kristoffersen, 2010. "The Metrics of Subjective Wellbeing: Cardinality, Neutrality and Additivity," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 86(272), pages 98-123, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecorec:v:86:y:2010:i:272:p:98-123
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4932.2009.00598.x
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    1. Pablo Diego-Rosell & Robert Tortora & James Bird, 2018. "International Determinants of Subjective Well-Being: Living in a Subjectively Material World," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 123-143, January.
    2. Yew-Kwang Ng, 2015. "Some Conceptual And Methodological Issues On Happiness: Lessons From Evolutionary Biology," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 60(04), pages 1-17.
    3. Ingebjørg Kristoffersen, 2017. "The Metrics of Subjective Wellbeing Data: An Empirical Evaluation of the Ordinal and Cardinal Comparability of Life Satisfaction Scores," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 130(2), pages 845-865, January.
    4. Inga Kristoffersen, 2011. "The Subjective Wellbeing Scale: How Reasonable is the Cardinality Assumption?," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 11-15, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    5. Dockery, Alfred M., 2012. "Deriving the labour supply curve from happiness data," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 898-900.
    6. Wunder, Christoph & Heineck, Guido, 2013. "Working time preferences, hours mismatch and well-being of couples: Are there spillovers?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 244-252.
    7. Christopher Ambrey & Christopher Fleming, 2014. "Public Greenspace and Life Satisfaction in Urban Australia," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(6), pages 1290-1321, May.
    8. Prinz, Aloys & Bünger, Björn, 2011. "The usefulness of a Happy Income Index," CAWM Discussion Papers 15, University of Münster, Münster Center for Economic Policy (MEP).
    9. Phuc Phan & Martin O’Brien, 2019. "Multidimensional Wellbeing Inequality in a Developing Country: A Case Study of Vietnam," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 157-183, August.
    10. Tekin Kose & Julide Yildirim & Gizem Tanrivere, 2017. "The Effects of Terrorism on Happiness: Evidence from Turkey," EcoMod2017 10229, EcoMod.
    11. Paul Schumann & Lars Kuchinke, 2020. "Do(n’t) Worry, It’s Temporary: The Effects of Fixed-Term Employment on Affective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(7), pages 2557-2582, October.
    12. Mai Thi My-Quyen & Le Nguyen Hau & Pham Ngoc Thuy, 2020. "Mindful co-creation of transformative service for better well-being," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 14(3), pages 413-437, September.
    13. Hasan, Hamid, 2013. "Capabilities vis-a-vis Happiness: Evidence from Pakistan," MPRA Paper 44892, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Schnitzlein Daniel D. & Wunder Christoph, 2016. "Are We Architects of Our Own Happiness? The Importance of Family Background for Well-Being," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 125-149, January.
    15. Paul Schumann & Lars Kuchinke, 2019. "Do(n’t) Worry, It’s Temporary: The Effects of Fixed‑Term Employment on Affective Well‑Being," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1065, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    16. Christoph Wunder & Johannes Schwarze, 2014. "Is Posner Right? An Empirical Test of the Posner Argument for Transferring Health Spending from Old Women to Old Men," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 1239-1257, December.
    17. Oleg N. Medvedev & Richard J. Siegert & Ahmed D. Mohamed & Daniel Shepherd & Erik Landhuis & Christian U. Krägeloh, 2017. "The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: Transformation from an Ordinal to an Interval Measure Using Rasch Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(5), pages 1425-1443, October.
    18. Anh Le & Paul Miller, 2013. "Satisfaction with Time Allocations Within the Family: The Role of Family Type," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 1273-1289, August.
    19. Hamid Hasan, 2019. "Confidence in Subjective Evaluation of Human Well-Being in Sen’s Capabilities Perspective," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, January.

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