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What Can we Learn from Subjective Data ? The Case of Income and Well-Being

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  • Claudia Senik

Abstract

How does the income of others affect my own welfare ? This survey of the empirical literature stresses the contribution of subjective data to the understanding of this issue, with an attempt to disentangle direct effects (preferences interdependence) from indirect informational effects. It shows that perceived mobility is central to the link between other people’s income and individual satisfaction, as it determines individual opportunities and risks. Agents also appreciate the equalitarian nature of mobility itself, in which case individual welfare depends on dynamic inequality rather than static income distribution. These studies illustrate how subjective data can bring information on aspects of utility and social interactions that are beyond the scope of the method based on action-revealed preferences.

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Paper provided by DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure) in its series DELTA Working Papers with number 2003-06.

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Date of creation: Mar 2003
Date of revision: Oct 2003
Handle: RePEc:del:abcdef:2003-06

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Ekaterina Kalugina & Natalia Radtchenko & Catherine Sofer, 2006. "How Do Spouses Share their Full Income ? Identification of the Sharing Rule Using Self-Reported Income," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00111159, HAL.
  2. Claudia Senik, 2007. "Ambition and jealousy. Income interactions in the "Old" Europe versus the "New" Europe and the United States," PSE Working Papers halshs-00590828, HAL.
  3. Claudia Senik, 2008. "Direct evidence on income comparisons and their welfare effects," PSE Working Papers halshs-00588023, HAL.
  4. Claudia Senik, 2004. "Relativizing relative income," DELTA Working Papers 2004-17, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure).
  5. Ekaterina Kalugina & Catherine Sofer & Natalia Radtchenko, 2009. "Intra-household inequality in transitional Russia," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 447-471, December.
  6. Miotti, Luis & Mouhoud, El Mouhoub & Oudinet, Joël, . "Determinants and uses of remittances to Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries : Insights from a new survey," Open Access publications from Université Paris-Dauphine urn:hdl:123456789/5545, Université Paris-Dauphine.
  7. Luis Miotti & El Mouhoub Mouhoud & Joel Oudinet, 2009. "Migrations And Determinants Of Remittances To Southern Mediterranean Countries: When History Matters !," Post-Print hal-00483303, HAL.
  8. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Klarita Gërxhani, 2011. "Financial Satisfaction and (in)formal Sector in a Transition Country," Social Indicators Research, Springer, vol. 102(2), pages 315-331, June.
  9. Mouhoud, El Mouhoub & Miotti, Luis & Oudinet, Joël, . "Migration and Determinants of Remittances to Southern Mediterranean Countries: when history matters! Insights of two new surveys," Open Access publications from Université Paris-Dauphine urn:hdl:123456789/2574, Université Paris-Dauphine.
  10. Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada & Ramos, Xavi, 2010. "Inequality Aversion and Risk Attitudes," IZA Discussion Papers 4703, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  11. Ekaterina Kalugina & Natalia Radtchenko & Catherine Sofer, 2008. "Une analyse du partage intrafamilial du revenu à partir de données subjectives," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00193481, HAL.
  12. Claudia Senik, 2006. "Ambition et jalousie. La perception du revenu d'autrui dans la « vieille Europe », la « nouvelle Europe » et les États-Unis," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 57(3), pages 645-653.

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