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Is Man Doomed to Progress?

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  • Senik, Claudia

    (Paris School of Economics)

Abstract

This paper is dedicated to the empirical exploration of the welfare effect of expectations and progress per se. Using ten waves of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, a panel household survey rich in subjective variables, the analysis suggests that for a given total stock of inter-temporal consumption, agents are more satisfied with an increasing time-profile of consumption: they seem to have a strong “taste for improvement”.

Suggested Citation

  • Senik, Claudia, 2006. "Is Man Doomed to Progress?," IZA Discussion Papers 2237, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2237
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    panel data; subjective happiness; growth; expectations; adaptation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D9 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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