IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/zbw/espost/261335.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic Characteristics and Subjective Well-Being

Author

Listed:
  • Želinský, Tomáš
  • Soroková, Tatiana
  • Petríková, Daniela

Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to examine the relationship between economic characteristics and well-being as one of the components of quality of life. The study is based on microdata obtained from a representative EU-SILC 2013 survey covering the Slovak population age 16 and older. Subjective wellbeing is proxied by a score reflecting the general mood or affect, including depression, anxiety, and psychologic well-being. The estimated mean value of the total subjective wellbeing score is 70 (median: 73). The results presented in this study suggest that economic factors are strongly correlated with the level of subjective well-being. The findings propose positive and diminishing returns to income; unemployed people score on average approximately 9 points lower than those who are employed; people living in indebted households have a lower level of subjective well-being than those living in households without debts; and the ability to face unexpected financial expenses increases the level of well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Želinský, Tomáš & Soroková, Tatiana & Petríková, Daniela, 2018. "Economic Characteristics and Subjective Well-Being," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 50(3), pages 334-364.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:261335
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/261335/1/Zelinsky_etal_2018.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2009. "The U-Shape without Controls," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 896, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    2. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2004. "Well-being over time in Britain and the USA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1359-1386, July.
    3. Bonsang, Eric & Klein, Tobias J., 2012. "Retirement and subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 311-329.
    4. Brown, Sarah & Taylor, Karl & Wheatley Price, Stephen, 2005. "Debt and distress: Evaluating the psychological cost of credit," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 642-663, October.
    5. Van Landeghem, Bert, 2012. "A test for the convexity of human well-being over the life cycle: Longitudinal evidence from a 20-year panel," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 571-582.
    6. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2009. "The U-shape without controls: A response to Glenn," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 486-488, August.
    7. Thomas Lemieux, 2006. "The “Mincer Equation” Thirty Years After Schooling, Experience, and Earnings," Springer Books, in: Shoshana Grossbard (ed.), Jacob Mincer A Pioneer of Modern Labor Economics, chapter 11, pages 127-145, Springer.
    8. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2008. "Is well-being U-shaped over the life cycle?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1733-1749, April.
    9. Benjamin Caunt & John Franklin & Nina Brodaty & Henry Brodaty, 2013. "Exploring the Causes of Subjective Well-Being: A Content Analysis of Peoples’ Recipes for Long-Term Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 475-499, April.
    10. Alesina, Alberto & Di Tella, Rafael & MacCulloch, Robert, 2004. "Inequality and happiness: are Europeans and Americans different?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 2009-2042, August.
    11. Sonja Lyubomirsky & Chris Tkach & M. DiMatteo, 2006. "What are the Differences between Happiness and Self-Esteem," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 78(3), pages 363-404, September.
    12. Richard M. Ryan & Veronika Huta & Edward Deci, 2008. "Living well: a self-determination theory perspective on eudaimonia," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 139-170, January.
    13. Chris Tkach & Sonja Lyubomirsky, 2006. "How Do People Pursue Happiness?: Relating Personality, Happiness-Increasing Strategies, and Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 183-225, June.
    14. Zeileis, Achim, 2004. "Econometric Computing with HC and HAC Covariance Matrix Estimators," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 11(i10).
    15. Andrew E. Clark & Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields, 2008. "Relative Income, Happiness, and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 95-144, March.
    16. Fang Chen & Yiming Jing & Adele Hayes & Jeong Lee, 2013. "Two Concepts or Two Approaches? A Bifactor Analysis of Psychological and Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 1033-1068, June.
    17. Zelinsky, Tomas, 2014. "Chudoba a deprivácia na Slovensku: Metodologické aspekty a empíria [Poverty and Deprivation in Slovakia: Methodological Aspects and Empirics]," MPRA Paper 76868, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada, 2005. "Income and well-being: an empirical analysis of the comparison income effect," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(5-6), pages 997-1019, June.
    19. John Hudson, 2006. "Institutional Trust and Subjective Well‐Being across the EU," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 43-62, February.
    20. Frey, Bruno S & Stutzer, Alois, 2000. "Happiness, Economy and Institutions," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(466), pages 918-938, October.
    21. Shoshana Grossbard (ed.), 2006. "Jacob Mincer A Pioneer of Modern Labor Economics," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-0-387-29175-8, December.
    22. Anonymous, 1948. "World Health Organization," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 374-377, June.
    23. Ed Diener & Eunkook Suh, 1997. "Measuring Quality Of Life: Economic, Social, And Subjective Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 189-216, January.
    24. Anonymous, 1948. "World Health Organization," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(1), pages 138-140, February.
    25. Moro, Mirko & Brereton, Finbarr & Ferreira, Susana & Clinch, J. Peter, 2008. "Ranking quality of life using subjective well-being data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 448-460, April.
    26. D. Shin & D. Johnson, 1978. "Avowed happiness as an overall assessment of the quality of life," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 475-492, March.
    27. Louis Tay & Cassondra Batz & Scott Parrigon & Lauren Kuykendall, 2017. "Debt and Subjective Well-being: The Other Side of the Income-Happiness Coin," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 903-937, June.
    28. Brereton, Finbarr & Clinch, J. Peter & Ferreira, Susana, 2008. "Happiness, geography and the environment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 386-396, April.
    29. Andrew E. Clark & Claudia Senik, 2014. "Happiness and Economic Growth: Lessons from Developing Countries," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-01109063, HAL.
    30. Michael Hagerty, 1999. "Unifying Livability and Comparison Theory: Cross-National Time-Series Analysis of Life-Satisfaction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 343-356, July.
    31. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    32. Brendan Burchell, 2011. "A Temporal Comparison of the Effects of Unemployment and Job Insecurity on Wellbeing," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 16(1), pages 66-78, February.
    33. Michael A. Shields & Stephen Wheatley Price, 2005. "Exploring the economic and social determinants of psychological well‐being and perceived social support in England," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 168(3), pages 513-537, July.
    34. Mariano Rojas, 2004. "Well-being and the Complexity of Poverty: A Subjective Well-being Approach," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2004-29, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    35. Anonymous, 1948. "World Health Organization," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(3), pages 540-542, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hugo Briseño & Guillermo Estefani & Alejandra Núñez-Acosta & Manuel Soto-Pérez, 2022. "Urban Risks and Their Influence on Subjective Well-being Around the World," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 1617-1636, April.
    2. Želinský, Tomáš & Hudec, Oto & Mojsejová, Alena & Hricová, Silvia, 2021. "The effects of population density on subjective well-being: A case-study of Slovakia," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Mojca Svetek & Mateja Drnovsek, 2022. "Exploring the Effects of Types of Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity on Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 149-170, January.
    4. Betkó János & Spierings Niels & Gesthuizen Maurice & Scheepers Peer, 2022. "How Welfare Policies Can Change Trust – A Social Experiment Assessing the Impact of Social Assistance Policy on Political and Social Trust," Basic Income Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 155-187, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Želinský, Tomáš & Hudec, Oto & Mojsejová, Alena & Hricová, Silvia, 2021. "The effects of population density on subjective well-being: A case-study of Slovakia," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    2. Frijters, Paul & Beatton, Tony, 2012. "The mystery of the U-shaped relationship between happiness and age," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 525-542.
    3. Sarracino, Francesco, 2013. "Determinants of subjective well-being in high and low income countries: Do happiness equations differ across countries?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 51-66.
    4. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2016. "Antidepressants and age: A new form of evidence for U-shaped well-being through life," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 46-58.
    5. Chen, Le-Yu & Oparina, Ekaterina & Powdthavee, Nattavudh & Srisuma, Sorawoot, 2022. "Robust Ranking of Happiness Outcomes: A Median Regression Perspective," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 672-686.
    6. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    7. Peter Howley & Emma Dillon & Kevin Heanue & David Meredith, 2017. "Worth the Risk? The Behavioural Path to Well-Being," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 534-552, June.
    8. Paul Downward & Simona Rasciute, 2011. "An Economic Analysis of the Subjective Health and Well-being of Physical Activity," Chapters, in: Plácido Rodríguez & Stefan Késenne & Brad R. Humphreys (ed.), The Economics of Sport, Health and Happiness, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Pawlowski, Tim & Downward, Paul & Rasciute, Simona, 2014. "Does national pride from international sporting success contribute to well-being? An international investigation," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 121-132.
    10. David G. Blanchflower & Carol L. Graham, 2022. "The Mid-Life Dip in Well-Being: a Critique," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 287-344, May.
    11. Antje Mertens & Miriam Beblo, 2016. "Self-Reported Satisfaction and the Economic Crisis of 2007–2010: Or How People in the UK and Germany Perceive a Severe Cyclical Downturn," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 537-565, January.
    12. Andrew E. Clark, 2018. "Four Decades of the Economics of Happiness: Where Next?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(2), pages 245-269, June.
    13. Hajdu, Tamás & Hajdu, Gábor, 2011. "A hasznosság és a relatív jövedelem kapcsolatának vizsgálata magyar adatok segítségével [Examining the relation of utility and relative income using Hungarian data]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 56-73.
    14. Caporale, Guglielmo Maria & Georgellis, Yannis & Tsitsianis, Nicholas & Yin, Ya Ping, 2009. "Income and happiness across Europe: Do reference values matter?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 42-51, February.
    15. Fulvio Castellacci & Henrik Schwabe, 2020. "Internet, unmet aspirations and the U-shape of life," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(6), pages 1-22, June.
    16. Junji Kageyama & Kazuma Sato, 2021. "Explaining the U-shaped life satisfaction: dissatisfaction as a driver of behavior," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 179-202, July.
    17. Blanchflower, David G & Oswald, Andrew, 2011. "International Happiness," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 39, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    18. Roberta Distante, 2013. "Subjective Well-Being, Income and Relative Concerns in the UK," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 81-105, August.
    19. Stefano Bartolini & Ennio Bilancini & Francesco Sarracino, 2013. "Predicting the Trend of Well-Being in Germany: How Much Do Comparisons, Adaptation and Sociability Matter?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 169-191, November.
    20. Elena Bárcena-Martín & Cortés Aguilar Alexandra & Ana I. Moro Egido, 2013. "The role of proximity and social comparisons on subjective well-being," ThE Papers 13/10, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Well-Being; EU-SILC; economic characteristics; Slovakia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:261335. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zbwkide.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.