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Neighbors' Income, Public Goods, and Well‐Being

Author

Listed:
  • Abel Brodeur
  • Sarah Flèche

Abstract

How does neighbors' income affect individual well‐being? Our analysis is based on rich U.S. local data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which contains information on where respondents live and their self‐reported well‐being. We find that the effect of neighbors' income on individuals' self‐reported well‐being varies with the size of the neighborhood included. In smaller areas such as ZIP codes, we find a positive relationship between median income and individuals' life satisfaction, whereas it is the opposite at the county, MSA, and state levels. We provide evidence that local public goods and local area characteristics such as unemployment, criminality, and poverty rates drive the association between satisfaction and neighbors' income at the ZIP code level. The neighbors' income effects are mainly concentrated among poorer individuals and are as large as one quarter of the effect of own income on self‐reported well‐being.

Suggested Citation

  • Abel Brodeur & Sarah Flèche, 2019. "Neighbors' Income, Public Goods, and Well‐Being," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(2), pages 217-238, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:revinw:v:65:y:2019:i:2:p:217-238
    DOI: 10.1111/roiw.12367
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    Cited by:

    1. Christopher Phelps & Mark N. Harris & Steven Rowley & Rachel Ong ViforJ & Gavin A. Wood, 2023. "Geographic Reference Income and the Subjective Wellbeing of Australians," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(8), pages 2855-2880, December.
    2. Tiffany S. Neman, 2020. "Does Your Neighborhood’s Income Distribution Matter? A Multi-scale Study of Financial Well-Being in the U.S," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 951-970, December.
    3. Silvia Emili & Federica Galli, 2022. "Self-perceptions and perceptions of peers: their role in understanding expenditure behaviours," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(6), pages 4573-4597, December.
    4. John Ifcher & Homa Zarghamee & Dan Houser & Lina Diaz, 2020. "The relative income effect: an experiment," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 23(4), pages 1205-1234, December.
    5. Zhijian Zhang & Xueyuan Wang, 2021. "Ambition or Jealousy? It Depends on Whom you are Compared with," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1189-1215, March.
    6. Bellet, Clément S., 2024. "The McMansion effect: Positional externalities in U.S. suburbs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    7. Thanasis Ziogas & Dimitris Ballas & Sierdjan Koster & Arjen Edzes, 2020. "How happy are my neighbours? Modelling spatial spillover effects of well-being," Papers 2007.11580, arXiv.org.
    8. Noy, Shakked & Sin, Isabelle, 2021. "The effects of neighbourhood and workplace income comparisons on subjective wellbeing," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 918-945.
    9. Leonardo Becchetti & Fabio Pisani, 2021. "When Money Matters More: Long‐Term Illness and the Income/Life Satisfaction Slope," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(3), pages 616-638, September.
    10. Fumagalli, Elena & Fumagalli, Laura, 2022. "Subjective well-being and the gender composition of the reference group: Evidence from a survey experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 196-219.
    11. Seonghoon Kim & Andrew J. Oswald, 2021. "Happy Lottery Winners and Lottery‐Ticket Bias," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(2), pages 317-333, June.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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