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Lags and Leads in Life Satisfaction: A Test of the Baseline Hypothesis

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Author Info
Andrew Clark
Ed Diener
Yannis Georgellis
Richard E. Lucas

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Abstract

We use fourteen waves of the German panel data to ask whether individuals, after life and labour market events, return to some baseline wellbeing level. Although the strongest life satisfaction effect is often at the time of the event, significant lag and lead effects are present. Men are more affected by labour market events (unemployment and layoffs) and women by life events (marriage and divorce). Anticipation is an important component of individual wellbeing. Last, we show that happiness does not provide insurance against hard knocks: those with high baseline satisfaction are most adversely affected by negative events.

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Paper provided by DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure) in its series DELTA Working Papers with number 2003-14.

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Date of creation: 2003
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Handle: RePEc:del:abcdef:2003-14

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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  3. Loewenstein, George & Thaler, Richard H, 1989. "Intertemporal Choice," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 3(4), pages 181-93, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Andrew E. Clark, 2006. "A note on unhappiness and unemployment duration," PSE Working Papers 2006-23, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
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  5. Andrew Clark & Yannis Georgellis & Peter Sanfey, 1999. "Scarring: The Psychological Impact of Past Unemployment," Studies in Economics 9903, Department of Economics, University of Kent. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Hendrik Jürges, 2007. "Unemployment, life satisfaction and retrospective error," Journal Of The Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 127(1), pages 43-61. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Andrew Clark & Yannis Georgellis & Peter Sanfey, 1997. "Job Satisfaction, Wage Changes and Quits: Evidence from Germany," Studies in Economics 9711, Department of Economics, University of Kent.
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  8. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Paul Frijters, 2004. "How Important is Methodology for the estimates of the determinants of Happiness?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(497), pages 641-659, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Eran Yashiv, 2006. "U.S. Labor Market Dynamics Revisited," IZA Discussion Papers 2455, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  11. Andrew E. Clark, 2003. "Unemployment as a Social Norm: Psychological Evidence from Panel Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(2), pages 289-322, April. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Freeman, Richard B, 1978. "Job Satisfaction as an Economic Variable," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 68(2), pages 135-41, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Gary S. Becker & Kevin M. Murphy, 1986. "A Theory of Rational Addiction," University of Chicago - George G. Stigler Center for Study of Economy and State 41, Chicago - Center for Study of Economy and State.
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  15. Gert G. Wagner & Joachim R. Frick & Jürgen Schupp, 2007. "The German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) : Scope, Evolution and Enhancements," SOEPpapers 1, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
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  17. Kahneman, Daniel & Tversky, Amos, 1979. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(2), pages 263-91, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Richard E. Lucas & Andrew Clark & Yannis Georgellis & Ed Diener, 2002. "Re-Examining Adaptation and the Setpoint Model of Happiness: Reactions to Changes in Marital Status," DELTA Working Papers 2002-08, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  20. Gary S. Becker & Michael Grossman & Kevin M. Murphy, 1994. "An Empirical Analysis of Cigarette Addiction," NBER Working Papers 3322, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  21. Rafael Di Tella & Robert J. MacCulloch & Andrew J. Oswald, 2001. "Preferences over Inflation and Unemployment: Evidence from Surveys of Happiness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 335-341, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  24. Richard E. Lucas & Andrew E. Clark, 2005. "Do people really adapt to marriage?," PSE Working Papers 2005-41, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
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  26. Easterlin, Richard A., 2005. "A puzzle for adaptive theory," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 513-521, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  27. Andrew E. Clark & Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields, 2006. "Income and happiness: Evidence, explanations and economic implications," PSE Working Papers 2006-24, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  28. Blanchflower, David G., 2001. "Unemployment, Well-Being, and Wage Curves in Eastern and Central Europe," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 364-402, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  29. Namazie, Ceema & Sanfey, Peter, 2001. "Happiness and Transition: The Case of Kyrgyzstan," Review of Development Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 5(3), pages 392-405, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  30. Agerbo, E. & Eriksson, T. & Mortensen, P.B. & Westergard-Nielsen, N., 1998. "Unemployment and Mental Disorder - An Empirical Analysis," Papers 98-02, Centre for Labour Market and Social Research, Danmark-.
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  32. Jonathan Gruber & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2005. "Do Cigarette Taxes Make Smokers Happier," Advances in Economic Analysis & Policy, Berkeley Electronic Press, vol. 5(1), pages 1412-1412. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Claudia Senik, 2006. "Is man doomed to progress?," PSE Working Papers 2006-12, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Lelkes, Orsolya, 2008. "Happiness over the life cycle: exploring age-specific preferences," MPRA Paper 7302, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  3. repec:ese:iserwp: is not listed on IDEAS
  4. Orsolya Lelkes, 2005. "Knowing what is good for you. Empirical analysis of personal preferences and the “objective good”," Others 0502008, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. John Helliwell, 2005. "Well-Being, Social Capital and Public Policy: What's New?," NBER Working Papers 11807, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Stephan Meier & Alois Stutzer, . "Is Volunteering Rewarding in Itself?," IEW - Working Papers iewwp180, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Andrew J. Oswald & Nattavudh Powdthavee, 2006. "Does Happiness Adapt? A Longitudinal Study of Disability with Implications for Economists and Judges," IZA Discussion Papers 2208, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  8. Axel Börsch-Supan & Hendrik Jürges, 2007. "Early Retirement, Social Security and Well-Being in Germany," MEA discussion paper series 07134, Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA), University of Mannheim. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Namkee Ahn & Juan Ramón García & Juan Francisco Jimeno, 2004. "The Impact of Unemployment on Individual Well-Being in the EU," Economics Working Papers 029, European Network of Economic Policy Research Institutes. [Downloadable!]
  10. Krueger, Alan B. & Mueller, Andreas, 2008. "The Lot of the Unemployed: A Time Use Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 3490, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  11. Tania Burchardt, 2004. "One mans rags are another mans riches: Identifying adaptive preferences using panel data," CASE Papers 086, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  12. Gardner, Jonathan & Oswald, Andrew J., 2006. "Money and Mental Wellbeing : A Longitudinal Study of Medium-Sized Lottery Wins," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 754, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Jonathan Gardner & Andrew J. Oswald, 2005. "Do Divorcing Couples Become Happier By Breaking Up?," IZA Discussion Papers 1788, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Liam Graham & Andrew J. Oswald, 2006. "Hedonic Capital," IZA Discussion Papers 2079, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  15. Namkee Ahn & Juan Ramón García & Juan F. Jimeno, . "Well-being Consequences of Unemployment in Europe," Working Papers 2004-11, FEDEA. [Downloadable!]
  16. Jan M. Hoem & Michaela Kreyenfeld, 2006. "Anticipatory analysis and its alternatives in life-course research," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 15(17), pages 485-498, November. [Downloadable!]
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