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Freustrated Achievers: Winners, Losers, and Subjective Well-Being in Peru’s Emerging Economy

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  • Carol Graham

    (She has been a vice president at Brookings and a special adviser to the vice president of the Inter-American Development Bank)

  • Stefano Pettinato

    (He has completed graduate studies in development economics from the University of Florence and obtained an MA from Johns Hopkins University)

Abstract

The literature on subjective well-being has focused primarily on the developed economies. The authors provide empirical evidence from a developing country, Peru. Their results—and in particular a strong negative skew in the assessments of the respondents with the greatest income gains—support the importance of relative rather than absolute income differences. Among other factors, they attribute their results to shifts in reference norms and to macroeconomic volatility. Relative differences seem to matter more for those in the middle of the distribution than for the very wealthy or the very poor. Respondents were more critical in assessing their progress vis-à -vis others in their country versus those in their community. The frustrations that the authors find among the upwardly mobile may have implications for the future economic and political behavior of a group that is critical to the sustainability of market policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Carol Graham & Stefano Pettinato, 2006. "Freustrated Achievers: Winners, Losers, and Subjective Well-Being in Peru’s Emerging Economy," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 606(1), pages 128-153, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:606:y:2006:i:1:p:128-153
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716206288192
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Aram Kwon, 2022. "The Impact of Intergenerational Mobility on Well-being in Japan," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 253-277, July.

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