幸福经济学1

JournalofEconomicBehavior&OrganizationVol.55(2004)319–342Doeshappinesspay?AnexplorationbasedonpaneldatafromRussiaCarolGraham∗,AndrewEggers,SandipSukhtankarEconomicandGovernanceStudiesPrograms,TheBrookingsInstitution,1775MassachusettsAvenueNW,Washington,DC20036,USAReceived18June2002;receivedinrevisedform6June2003;accepted19September2003Availableonline24July2004AbstractWell-beingresearchhassupportedthecommonsenseviewthatincome,health,andotherfactorsaffecthappiness.WeusepaneldatafromRussiatoassessthereversecausation—thathappinessitselfaffectsincome,health,andotherfactors.Wefindthatpeoplewhohadhigher“residualhappiness”in1995–peoplewhowerehappieraftercorrectingfortheusualdeterminantsofwell-being–mademoremoneyandwereinbetterhealthinasurvey5yearslater.Psychologistsattributealargepartofwell-beingtofactorssuchasself-esteemandoptimism.Thesamefactorsappeartoinfluenceindividuals’wealthandhealth.©2004ElsevierB.V.Allrightsreserved.JELclassification:D31;I31;J39Keywords:Happiness;Income;Inequality;Expectations;CognitivebiasThestudyofhappiness,orsubjectivewell-being,anditsimplicationsforeconomicbehav-iorisafairlynewareaforeconomists,althoughpsychologistshavebeenstudyingitforyears.Thefindingsofthisresearchhighlightthenon-incomedeterminantsofeconomicbehavior.Forexample,cross-countrystudiesofhappinessconsistentlydemonstratethataftercertainminimumlevelsofpercapitaincome,averagehappinesslevelsdonotincrease∗Correspondingauthor.E-mailaddress:[e-mail](C.Graham).0167-2681/$–seefrontmatter©2004ElsevierB.V.Allrightsreserved.doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2003.09.002320C.Grahametal./J.ofEconomicBehavior&Org.55(2004)319–342ascountriesgrowwealthier.1Withinsocieties,moststudiesfindthatwealthierindividualsareonaveragehappierthanpoorones,butafteraminimumlevelofincome,moremoneydoesnotmakepeoplemuchhappier.2Becauseincomeplayssuchanimportantroleinstan-darddefinitionsandmeasuresofwell-being,thesefindingshavetheoretical,empirical,andpolicyimplications.Someoftheearliesteconomists(suchasJeremyBentham)wereconcernedwiththepursuitofindividualhappiness.Asthefieldbecamemorerigorousandquantitative,how-ever,muchnarrowerdefinitionsofindividualwelfare,orutility,becamethenorm,eventhougheconomicswasstillconcernedwithpublicwelfareinthebroadersense.Inaddition,economistshavetraditionallyshiedawayfromtheuseofsurveydatabecauseofjustifiableconcernsthatanswerstosurveysaresubjecttobiasfromfactorssuchasrespondents’moodatthetimeofthesurveyandminorchangesinthephrasingofsurveyquestions.3Thus,traditionaleconomicanalysisfocusesonactualbehavior,suchasrevealedpreferencesinconsumption,savings,andlabormarketparticipation,undertheassumptionthatindividu-alsrationallyprocessalltheinformationattheirdisposaltomaximizetheirutility.4Morerecently,behavioraleconomicshasbeguntohaveinfluenceatthemargin,asanincreasingnumberofeconomistssupplementthemethodsandresearchquestionsmorecommontoeconomistswiththosemorecommontopsychologists.5Mostresearchonsubjectivewell-beingreliesheavilybutnotexclusivelyonsurveysandcombinesmethodsfrombothprofessions.Typically,thequestionsareverysimpleonesabouthowhappyorsatisfiedrespondentsarewiththeirlives,withresponsesrangingfromnotveryornotatalltoveryorfullysatisfied.6Whiletherearejustifiedcriticismsofhowaccuratesuchquestionsareinassessinglifesatisfactionattheindividuallevel,thereisremarkableconsistencyinthepatternsgeneratedbytheanswerstothesequestionsaggregatedacrosspopulationsandovertime.Inaddition,anumberofpsychologistshavebeenableto“validate”theuseofthesequestionsthroughothermeasures,forexample,byshowingthatindividualswhoanswerhappinessquestionspositivelyalsodemonstrateothermeasuresofpositiveaffect,suchassmilingmorefrequently.71Easterlin(1974).2See,amongothers,BlanchflowerandOswald(1999),Diener(1984),FreyandStutzer(2002),andGrahamandPettinato(2002a).Acontrastingview,inastudybypsychologistBobCummins(2000),startsfromtheassumptionthatsubjectivewell-beingisheldwithinanarrowrangedeterminedbypersonalityandthatitthenisinfluencedbyanumberofenvironmentalfactors,includingincome.Thisstudyfindsthattherearesignificantlydifferentlevelsofsubjectivewell-beingforpeoplewhoarerich,thosewhoareofaverageWesternincomes,andthosewhoarepoor.Theyalsonotethattheeffectsofincomeareindirect(i.e.intermsoftheotherresourcesthatincomeallowspeopletopurchase,rangingfrombetterhealthtonicerenvironments).3Foracritiqueoftheuseofsurveydata,seeBertrandandMullainathan(2001).4Assumptionsabouthowmuchinformationindividualshaveandhowtheyprocessithavebecomemuchmoresophisticatedovertime,includingtheconceptofboundedrationality.Withboundedrationality,individualsareassumedtohaveaccesstolocalorlimitedinformationandtomakedecisionsaccordingtosimpleheuristicrulesratherthancomplexoptimizationcalculations.SeeConlisk(1996)andSimon(1978).5Aparticularlyimportantsignofsupportforthislineofworkwasthegrantingofthe2002NobelPrizeineconomicsciencetoDanielKahneman,apsychologist.6Mostsurveysusea4-pointscale,althoughmorerecentlypsychologistshavebeguntoadvocatetheuseofeither7-or10-pointscalesasmoreaccurate.7See,forexample,DienerandBiswas-Diener(1