IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/123249.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Drivers of Subjective Well-Being Under Different Economic Scenarios

Author

Listed:
  • Arrondo, Ruben
  • Carcaba, Ana
  • Gonzalez, Eduardo

Abstract

This paper explores the evolution of the driving forces that shape individual subjective well-being (SWB) in Spain from 2013 to 2018. Several socio-demographic, material conditions and quality of life (QoL) variables are considered as potential drivers of SWB. The data come from a large survey carried in two different time periods. The first one (2013) is characterized by a negative economic scenario as a result of the global financial crisis of 2008. The second one (2018) is characterized by fast economic recovery. Our results suggest that the material conditions variables, especially unemployment, have a much deeper impact on SWB during economic downturns than during economic recovery periods. Social connections and health status are determinant factors behind SWB, especially if the economy is working well. Our results also point to changes in gender effects. While women were happier than men in 2013, this effect disappears in 2018. Paradoxically, this suggest an increase in female expectations about their own lives during this period.

Suggested Citation

  • Arrondo, Ruben & Carcaba, Ana & Gonzalez, Eduardo, 2021. "Drivers of Subjective Well-Being Under Different Economic Scenarios," MPRA Paper 123249, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:123249
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/123249/1/AM%20front.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oswald, Andrew J, 1997. "Happiness and Economic Performance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(445), pages 1815-1831, November.
    2. Lelkes, Orsolya, 2006. "Knowing what is good for you: Empirical analysis of personal preferences and the "objective good"," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 285-307, April.
    3. Clark, Andrew E & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Unhappiness and Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 648-659, May.
    4. 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.
    5. María Cruz Merino-Llorente & María Noelia Somarriba Arechavala, 2020. "European Part-time Workers’ Health and Well-being in Times of Crisis. The Case of Female Part-timers," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 235(4), pages 61-86, December.
    6. James O. Bukenya & Tesfa G. Gebremedhin & Peter V. Schaeffer, 2003. "Analysis of Rural Quality of Life and Health: A Spatial Approach," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 17(3), pages 280-293, August.
    7. Angus Deaton, 2012. "The financial crisis and the well-being of Americans," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 64(1), pages 1-26, January.
    8. Graham, Carol, 2012. "Happiness Around the World: The paradox of happy peasants and miserable millionaires," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199606283.
    9. Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada & Gowdy, John M., 2007. "Environmental degradation and happiness," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 509-516, January.
    10. Welsch, Heinz, 2006. "Environment and happiness: Valuation of air pollution using life satisfaction data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 801-813, July.
    11. 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.
    12. John F. Helliwell, 2008. "Life Satisfaction and Quality of Development," NBER Working Papers 14507, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Ed Diener & Robert Biswas-Diener, 2002. "Will Money Increase Subjective Well-Being?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 119-169, February.
    14. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2004. "Money, Sex and Happiness: An Empirical Study," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(3), pages 393-415, October.
    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. Magnus Johannesson & David I. Laibson & Sarah E. Medland & Michelle N. Meyer & Joseph K. Pickrell & Tõnu Esko & Robert F. Krueger & Jonathan P. Beauchamp & Philipp D. Koellinger & Daniel J. Benjamin &, 2016. "Genetic variants associated with subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism identified through genome-wide analyses," Post-Print hal-02017373, HAL.
    17. Eduardo González & Ana Cárcaba & Juan Ventura, 2018. "Weight Constrained DEA Measurement of the Quality of Life in Spanish Municipalities in 2011," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 1157-1182, April.
    18. Di Tella, Rafael & Haisken-De New, John & MacCulloch, Robert, 2010. "Happiness adaptation to income and to status in an individual panel," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 834-852, December.
    19. Sujarwoto Sujarwoto & Gindo Tampubolon & Adi Cilik Pierewan, 2018. "Individual and Contextual Factors of Happiness and Life Satisfaction in a Low Middle Income Country," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 13(4), pages 927-945, December.
    20. Ana Cárcaba & Eduardo González & Juan Ventura, 2017. "Social Progress in Spanish Municipalities (2001–2011)," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(4), pages 997-1019, December.
    21. Jorge Guardiola & Monica Guillen-Royo, 2015. "Income, Unemployment, Higher Education and Wellbeing in Times of Economic Crisis: Evidence from Granada (Spain)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 120(2), pages 395-409, January.
    22. Frey, Bruno S & Stutzer, Alois, 2000. "Happiness, Economy and Institutions," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(466), pages 918-938, October.
    23. Sibylle Puntscher & Christoph Hauser & Janette Walde & Gottfried Tappeiner, 2015. "The Impact of Social Capital on Subjective Well-Being: A Regional Perspective," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 1231-1246, October.
    24. Gerdtham, Ulf-G & Johannesson, Magnus, 2001. "The relationship between happiness, health, and socio-economic factors: results based on Swedish microdata," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 553-557.
    25. Gregor Gonza & Anže Burger, 2017. "Subjective Well-Being During the 2008 Economic Crisis: Identification of Mediating and Moderating Factors," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 1763-1797, December.
    26. Helliwell, John F., 2003. "How's life? Combining individual and national variables to explain subjective well-being," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 331-360, March.
    27. Martine Durand, 2015. "The OECD Better Life Initiative: How's Life? and the Measurement of Well-Being," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 61(1), pages 4-17, March.
    28. Heinz Welsch, 2002. "Preferences over Prosperity and Pollution: Environmental Valuation based on Happiness Surveys," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 473-494, November.
    29. Jeffrey D. Sachs & Richard Layard & John F. Helliwell, 2018. "World Happiness Report 2018," Working Papers id:12761, eSocialSciences.
    30. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger, 2006. "Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 3-24, Winter.
    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. Easterlin, Richard A., 1995. "Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 35-47, June.
    33. Weinhold, Diana, 2008. "How big a problem is noise pollution? A brief happiness analysis by a perturbable economist," MPRA Paper 9885, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    34. Espen Røysamb & Ragnhild B. Nes, 2019. "The role of genetics in subjective well-being," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 3(1), pages 3-3, January.
    35. repec:bla:kyklos:v:55:y:2002:i:4:p:473-94 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Rubén Arrondo & Ana Cárcaba & Eduardo González, 2021. "Drivers of Subjective Well-being in Spain: Are There Gender Differences?," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(5), pages 2131-2154, October.
    2. 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.
    3. Ana Cárcaba & Eduardo González, 2024. "The relationship between income and subjective well-being: the case of Spain," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 13(4), pages 203-212.
    4. Yuta J. Masuda & Jason R. Williams & Heather Tallis, 2021. "Does Life Satisfaction Vary with Time and Income? Investigating the Relationship Among Free Time, Income, and Life Satisfaction," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 2051-2073, June.
    5. Can Mavruk & Ersin Kıral & Gülsen Kıral, 2021. "Spatial Effects Over Time-Framed Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 517-554, February.
    6. Alexandra Cristina Sãžrbu & Mircea Asandului, 2021. "Determinants Of Subjective Well-Being Among Romanian Older Adults," Review of Economic and Business Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 28, pages 111-124, December.
    7. 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.
    8. Cordero, José Manuel & Salinas-Jiménez, Javier & Salinas-Jiménez, M Mar, 2017. "Exploring factors affecting the level of happiness across countries: A conditional robust nonparametric frontier analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 256(2), pages 663-672.
    9. Byela Tibesigwa & Martine Visser & Brennan Hodkinson, 2016. "Effects of Objective and Subjective Income Comparisons on Subjective Wellbeing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 361-389, August.
    10. Sara Ramos & Elias Soukiazis, 2014. "Determinants of Subjective Well-Being in Portugal: A Micro-Data Study," GEMF Working Papers 2014-16, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    11. 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.
    12. Badunenko, Oleg & Cordero, Jose M. & Kumbhakar, Subal C., 2021. "Are you slacking? Where do you and your country stand in the happiness pursuit?," MPRA Paper 108316, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Crowley, Frank & Walsh, Edel, 2018. "How important are Personal Ties, Trust and Tolerance for Life Satisfaction in Europe?," SRERC Working Paper Series SRERCWP2018-1, University College Cork (UCC), Spatial and Regional Economic Research Centre (SRERC).
    14. Blanchflower, David G & Oswald, Andrew, 2011. "International Happiness," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 39, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    15. 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.
    16. David G. Blanchflower, 2009. "International Evidence on Well-Being," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring the Subjective Well-Being of Nations: National Accounts of Time Use and Well-Being, pages 155-226, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell, 2013. "Happiness economics," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 35-60, March.
    18. Ebrahim, Amina, 2010. "The Determinants Of Happiness Among Race Groups In South Africa," Honours Students' Projects 107588, Rhodes University, Department of Economics and Economic History.
    19. Karl Aiginger & Kurt Kratena & Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger & Teresa Weiss, 2014. "Moving Towards a New Growth Model. WWWforEurope Deliverable No. 3," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 47247, January.
    20. Marc Hooghe & Bram Vanhoutte, 2011. "Subjective Well-Being and Social Capital in Belgian Communities. The Impact of Community Characteristics on Subjective Well-Being Indicators in Belgium," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 100(1), pages 17-36, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    subjective well-being; life satisfaction; quality of life; Spain; economic downturn;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    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:pra:mprapa:123249. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.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.