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Beyond the Joneses: Inter-country income comparisons and happiness

Author

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  • Becchetti, Leonardo
  • Castriota, Stefano
  • Corrado, Luisa
  • Ricca, Elena Giachin

Abstract

Our paper provides novel evidence on the burgeoning literature on life satisfaction and relative comparisons by showing that in the last 30 years comparisons with the well being of top income neighboring countries have generated negative feelings on a large sample of individuals in the Euro barometer survey. The paper shows that neighboring countries, and not just our individual neighbors or peers, can be reference groups and that the above mentioned effect depends on the intensity of media exposure.

Suggested Citation

  • Becchetti, Leonardo & Castriota, Stefano & Corrado, Luisa & Ricca, Elena Giachin, 2013. "Beyond the Joneses: Inter-country income comparisons and happiness," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 187-195.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:45:y:2013:i:c:p:187-195
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2013.05.009
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    2. Jantsch, Antje & Le Blanc, Julia & Schmidt, Tobias, 2022. "Wealth and subjective well-being in Germany," Discussion Papers 11/2022, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    3. Djankov, Simeon & Nikolova, Elena & Zilinsky, Jan, 2016. "The happiness gap in Eastern Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 108-124.
    4. Andrew E. Clark & Sarah Flèche & Claudia Senik, 2016. "Economic Growth Evens Out Happiness: Evidence from Six Surveys," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(3), pages 405-419, September.
    5. Alpaslan Akay & Olivier Bargain & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2017. "Home Sweet Home?: Macroeconomic Conditions in Home Countries and the Well-Being of Migrants," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(2), pages 351-373.
    6. Christa N. Brunnschweiler & Päivi Lujala, 2019. "Economic Backwardness and Social Tension," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 121(2), pages 482-516, April.
    7. Thomas Aronsson & Olof Johansson-Stenman, 2014. "When Samuelson Met Veblen Abroad: National and Global Public Good Provision when Social Comparisons Matter," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 81(322), pages 224-243, April.
    8. Barbara Dluhosch & Daniel Horgos, 2013. "Trading Up the Happiness Ladder," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 973-990, September.
    9. Thomas Dufhues & Judith Möllers & Antje Jantsch & Gertrud Buchenrieder & Laura Camfield, 2023. "Don’t Look Up! Individual Income Comparisons and Subjective Well-Being of Students in Thailand," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 477-503, February.
    10. Edsel Beja, 2014. "Income growth and happiness: reassessment of the Easterlin Paradox," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 61(4), pages 329-346, December.
    11. Aronsson, Thomas & Johansson-Stenman, Olof, 2015. "Keeping up with the Joneses, the Smiths and the Tanakas: On international tax coordination and social comparisons," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 71-86.
    12. Damiani, Mirella & Pompei, Fabrizio & Ricci, Andrea, 2011. "Temporary job protection and productivity growth in EU economies," MPRA Paper 29698, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Aronsson, Thomas & Mannberg, Andrea, 2015. "Relative consumption of housing: Marginal saving subsidies and income taxes as a second-best policy?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 439-450.
    14. Francesco Venturini, 2011. "Product variety, product quality, and evidence of Schumpeterian endogenous growth: a note," Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia, Finanza e Statistica 93/2011, Università di Perugia, Dipartimento Economia.
    15. Aronsson, Thomas & Johansson-Stenman, Olof, 2014. "Genuine Saving and Conspicuous Consumption," Working Papers in Economics 605, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    16. Stefano Herzel & Marco Nicolosi & Cătălin Stărică, 2012. "The cost of sustainability in optimal portfolio decisions," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3-4), pages 333-349, May.
    17. Johannes Emmerling & Paula Navarro & Matthew R. Sisco, 2021. "Subjective Well-Being at the Macro Level—Empirics and Future Scenarios," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 899-928, October.
    18. Dai, Darong & Gao, Wenzheng & Tian, Guoqiang, 2020. "Relativity, mobility, and optimal nonlinear income taxation in an open economy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 57-82.
    19. Ed Diener & Ronald Inglehart & Louis Tay, 2013. "Theory and Validity of Life Satisfaction Scales," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 497-527, July.
    20. Davide Castellani & Fabio Pieri, 2011. "Foreign Investments and Productivity Evidence from European Regions," Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia, Finanza e Statistica 83/2011, Università di Perugia, Dipartimento Economia.
    21. Benjamin Schalembier, 2016. "The Impact of Exposure to Other Countries on Life Satisfaction: An International Application of the Relative Income Hypothesis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 221-239, August.
    22. Becchetti, Leonardo & Corrado, Luisa & Fiaschetti, Maurizio, 2013. "The heterogeneity of wellbeing "expenditure" preferences," AICCON Working Papers 128-2013, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    23. Leonardo Becchetti, 2013. "‘On the Measurement of Social Progress and Wellbeing’: A Commentary," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 4(3), pages 294-295, September.
    24. Chisari, Omar O. & Miller, Sebastián J., 2016. "Climate Change and Migration: A CGE Analysis for Two Large Urban Regions of Latin America," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 7510, Inter-American Development Bank.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Life satisfaction; Relative income; Standard of living;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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