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¿Son más felices las personas saludables? La evidencia de Chile y Uruguay

Author

Listed:
  • Mariana Gerstenbluth

    (Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República)

  • Maximo Rossi

    (Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República)

Abstract

In this study we analyze data on happiness to find out the relationship between this issue and others aspects of life, based on the Latinobarómetro 2007 for Chile and Uruguay. The focus is put on self-reported health status as a key aspect in increasing happiness levels. Then, the probability of being happy is econometrically estimated by probit models for each country and the region. Results show that the main relationship is between happiness and health status. Whether this is a causal effect or only a correlation, is not clear. This issue is explored by using propensity score matching methods, finding that reporting a good health status increases the probability of being satisfied with life by between 13 and 17. According to previous literature, we find that the relationship between age and happiness is U-shaped, with happiness being lowest in the age of 48.2.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariana Gerstenbluth & Maximo Rossi, 2009. "¿Son más felices las personas saludables? La evidencia de Chile y Uruguay," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 2509, Department of Economics - dECON.
    • Handle: RePEc:ude:wpaper:2509
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    File URL: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12008/2143
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    happiness; health; matching methods;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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