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Hypertension and Happiness across Nations

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Author Info
David G. Blanchflower () (Dartmouth College, NBER, Bank of England and IZA)
Andrew J. Oswald () (University of Warwick and IZA)

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Abstract

A modern statistical literature argues that countries such as Denmark are particularly happy while nations like East Germany are not. Are such claims credible? The paper explores this by building on two ideas. The first is that psychological well-being and high blood-pressure are thought by clinicians to be inversely correlated. The second is that blood-pressure problems can be reported more objectively than mental well-being. Using data on 16 countries, the paper finds that happier nations report lower levels of hypertension. The paper’s results are consistent with, and seem to offer a step towards the validation of, crossnational estimates of well-being.

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File URL: ftp://repec.iza.org/RePEc/Discussionpaper/dp2633.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 2633.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 37 pages
Date of creation: Feb 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2633

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Related research
Keywords: Gross National Happiness; blood pressure; national well-being; hypertension;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty

References listed on IDEAS
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. David Bell & David G. Blanchflower, 2007. "The Scots May Be Brave But They Are Neither Healthy Nor Happy," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 54(2), pages 166-194, 05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2004. "Well-being over time in Britain and the USA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1359-1386, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Clark, Andrew E & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Unhappiness and Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 648-59, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2007. "Is Well-being U-Shaped over the Life Cycle?," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 826, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Paul Dolan & Robert Metcalfe, 2008. "Comparing Willingness-to-Pay and Subjective Well-Being in the Context of Non-Market Goods," CEP Discussion Papers dp0890, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  3. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J. & Van Landeghem, Bert, 2009. "Imitative Obesity and Relative Utility," IZA Discussion Papers 4010, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. David G. Blanchflower, 2008. "International evidence on well-being," NBER Working Papers 14318, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Isacsson, Gunnar & Karlström, Anders & Swärdh, Jan-Erik, 2008. "The value of time from subjective data on life satisfaction and job satisfaction: An empirical assessment," Working Papers 2008:2, Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI). [Downloadable!]
  6. David G. Blanchflower, 2007. "Is Unemployment More Costly Than Inflation?," NBER Working Papers 13505, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Fischer, Justina AV, 2009. "Subjective Well-Being as Welfare Measure: Concepts and Methodology," MPRA Paper 16619, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  8. Georgios Kavetsos & Stefan Szymanski, 2008. "National Wellbeing and International Sports Events," Working Papers 0804, International Association of Sports Economists. [Downloadable!]
  9. Rafael Di Tella & Robert MacCulloch, 2008. "Happiness Adaptation to Income beyond "Basic Needs"," NBER Working Papers 14539, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Rafael Di Tella & Robert MacCulloch, 2007. "Happiness, Contentment and Other Emotions for Central Banks," NBER Working Papers 13622, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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