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Wealth and happiness

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  • Claudia Senik

Abstract

Does wealth accumulation impact subjective well-being? Within a country, household wealth has been shown to improve individual well-being by providing a safety net of protection against negative income shocks, by allowing current and expected consumption flows, and by its potential use as a collateral. At the aggregate level, direct evidence about the relationship between national wealth and happiness is almost non-existent, owing to data limitations and statistical identification problems. However, aggregate wealth impacts well-being indirectly, via positive channels, such as institutional quality and improvement in health, life expectancy, and education. Wealth also brings about negative environmental degradations and other damages. The stock of accumulated wealth is also likely to affect happiness indirectly, via its influence on the rate of GDP growth, because both the level of income flows and the rate of income growth have been shown to be factors of higher well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudia Senik, 2014. "Wealth and happiness," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 30(1), pages 92-108.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxford:v:30:y:2014:i:1:p:92-108.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oxrep/gru004
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    Cited by:

    1. Hannah C. Silver & Steven B. Caudill & Franklin G. Mixon Jr., 2017. "Human capital and life satisfaction in economic transition," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 25(2), pages 165-184, April.
    2. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/7fst0pcf5j8cr99e1nuobt97rn is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Lepinteur, Anthony & Waltl, Sofie R., 2020. "Tracking Owners' Sentiments: Subjective Home Values, Expectations and House Price Dynamics," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 299, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    4. Takis Venetoklis, 2019. "Do interactions cancel associations of subjective well-being with individual-level socioeconomic characteristics? An exploratory analysis using the European Social Survey," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(6), pages 3033-3061, November.
    5. Sugiawan, Yogi & Kurniawan, Robi & Managi, Shunsuke, 2019. "Are carbon dioxide emission reductions compatible with sustainable well-being?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 1-11.
    6. Sergei Guriev & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2009. "(Un)happiness in Transition," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(2), pages 143-168, Spring.
    7. Daniel Badulescu & Ramona Simut & Ciprian Simut & Andrei-Vlad Badulescu, 2022. "Tourism at the Crossroads between Well-Being, Public Health and the Environment: Panel Data Evidence from the European Union," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-22, September.
    8. Franci Cirkvencic & Tine Bertoncel & Andrej Bertoncelj & Maja Meško, 2017. "Analysis of Relative Prosperity in Romania and Slovenia Using the Being-Loving-Having Model," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 19(46), pages 822-822, August.
    9. Polyzos, Stathis & Samitas, Aristeidis & Kampouris, Ilias, 2021. "Economic stimulus through bank regulation: Government responses to the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    10. Calcagnini, Giorgio & Perugini, Francesco, 2019. "Social capital and well-being in the Italian provinces," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    11. Veszteg, Róbert F. & Funaki, Yukihiko, 2018. "Monetary payoffs and utility in laboratory experiments," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 108-121.
    12. Hossain, Mahbub & Asadullah, M. Niaz & Kambhampati, Uma, 2019. "Empowerment and life satisfaction: Evidence from Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 170-183.
    13. Netta Achdut & Lea Achdut, 2022. "Joint Income-Wealth Poverty in a Cross-National Perspective: The Role of Country-Level Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 499-541, November.
    14. Hinrichsen, Julius & Nitt-Drießelmann, Dörte & Wellenreuther, Claudia & Wolf, André, 2021. "Der Eigentumsbegriff in den Parteiprogrammen zur Bundestagswahl 2021: Eine ökonomische Analyse," HWWI Policy Papers 133, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    15. Polyzos, Stathis & Samitas, Aristeidis & Katsaiti, Marina-Selini, 2020. "Who is unhappy for Brexit? A machine-learning, agent-based study on financial instability," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    16. Fiona Carmichael & Christian K. Darko & Patricia Daley & Joanne Duberley & Marco Ercolani & Tim Schwanen & Daniel Wheatley, 2024. "Time poverty and gender in urban sub‐Saharan Africa: Long working days and long commutes in Ghana's Greater Accra Metropolitan Area," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(1), pages 343-364, January.
    17. Jigme Nidup & Simon Feeny & Ashton Silva, 2018. "Improving Well-Being in Bhutan: A Pursuit of Happiness or Poverty Reduction?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 79-100, November.

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