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The lasting impact of early-career financial crisis experiences on financial satisfaction

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  • Yin, Peiyan
  • Zhou, Yonghong

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of the 2008–2009 subprime crisis on long-term financial satisfaction, addressing the gap in literature on early-career financial shocks and their connection to future financial attitudes. Using data from the seventh wave of the World Values Survey covering the period from 2017 to 2021, we employ a cohort difference-in-differences method to examine how financial shocks experienced during early career years influence long-term financial satisfaction. Our analysis reveals that individuals exposed to the crisis during their early career report higher levels of financial satisfaction over time, highlighting factors such as age, culture, religion, and work attitudes as influential mechanisms. These findings offer new insights into psychological factors as additional drivers of utility beyond consumption and provide implications for incorporating early-life experiences into the basis of welfare analysis in policy-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Yin, Peiyan & Zhou, Yonghong, 2025. "The lasting impact of early-career financial crisis experiences on financial satisfaction," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:151:y:2025:i:c:s0264999325001919
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2025.107196
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    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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