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Happy for how long? How social capital and economic growth relate to happiness over time

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  • Bartolini, Stefano
  • Sarracino, Francesco

Abstract

What predicts the evolution over time of subjective well-being? We correlate the trends of subjective well-being with the trends of social capital and/or GDP. We find that in the long and the medium run social capital largely predicts the trends of subjective well-being. In the short-term this relationship weakens. Indeed, in the short run, changes in social capital predict a much smaller portion of the changes in subjective well-being than over longer periods. GDP follows a reverse path, thus confirming the Easterlin paradox: in the short run GDP is more positively correlated to well-being than in the medium-term, while in the long run this correlation vanishes.

Suggested Citation

  • Bartolini, Stefano & Sarracino, Francesco, 2014. "Happy for how long? How social capital and economic growth relate to happiness over time," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 242-256.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:108:y:2014:i:c:p:242-256
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2014.10.004
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Easterlin paradox; Economic growth; Subjective well-being; Social capital; Time-series; WVS–EVS and ESS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

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