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The merger of populations, the incidence of marriages, and aggregate unhappiness

Author Info

  • Oded Stark

    ()

  • Franz Rendl

    ()

  • Marcin Jakubek

    ()

Abstract

Let a society’s unhappiness be measured by the aggregate of the levels of relative deprivation of its members. When two societies of equal size, F and M, merge, unhappiness in the merged society is shown to be higher than the sum of the levels of unhappiness in the constituent societies when apart; merger alone increases unhappiness. But when societies F and M merge and marriages are formed such that the number of households in the merged society is equal to the number of individuals in one of the constituent societies, unhappiness in the merged society is shown to be lower than the aggregate unhappiness in the two constituent societies when apart. This result obtains regardless of which individuals from one society form households with which individuals from the other, and even when the marriages have not (or not yet) led to income gains to the married couples from increased efficiency, scale economies, and the like. While there are various psychological reasons for people to become happier when they get married as opposed to staying single, the very formation of households reduces social distress even before any other happiness-generating factors kick in.

(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s00191-011-0234-4
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Article provided by Springer in its journal Journal of Evolutionary Economics.

Volume (Year): 22 (2012)
Issue (Month): 2 (April)
Pages: 331-344

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Handle: RePEc:spr:joevec:v:22:y:2012:i:2:p:331-344
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Order Information: Web: http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/191/PS2

Keywords: Merger of populations; Integration of societies; Unhappiness; Marriages; Relative deprivation; D0; D10; D31; D63;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • D0 - Microeconomics - - General
  • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
  • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
  • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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  1. BEHRENS, Kristian & GAIGNE, Carl & OTTAVIANO, Gianmarco I.P. & THISSE, Jacques-François, . "Countries, regions and trade: on the welfare impacts of economic integration," CORE Discussion Papers RP 1936, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
  2. Greenaway, David & Gullstrand, Joakim & Kneller, Richard, 2008. "Surviving globalisation," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 264-277, March.
  3. M. Fleurbaey., 2012. "Beyond GDP: The Quest for a Measure of Social Welfare," VOPROSY ECONOMIKI, N.P. Redaktsiya zhurnala "Voprosy Economiki", vol. 3.
  4. Andrew E. Clark & Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields, 2008. "Relative income, happiness, and utility: An explanation for the Easterlin paradox and other puzzles," Post-Print halshs-00754299, HAL.
  5. Magnus Henrekson & Johan Torstensson & Rasha Torstensson,, . "Growth Effects of European Integration," Discussion Papers 96/1, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
  6. Luis A. Rivera-Batiz & Paul M. Romer, 1991. "Economic Integration and Endogenous Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 106(2), pages 531-555.
  7. Marc Fleurbaey & Guillaume Gaulier, 2009. "International Comparisons of Living Standards by Equivalent Incomes," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 111(3), pages 597-624, 09.
  8. Rivera-Batiz, Luis A. & Xie, Danyang, 1993. "Integration among unequals," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 337-354, July.
  9. Stark, Oded & Taylor, J Edward, 1991. "Migration Incentives, Migration Types: The Role of Relative Deprivation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(408), pages 1163-78, September.
  10. Hyll, Walter & Stark, Oded, 2011. "On the economic architecture of the workplace: repercussions of social comparisons amongst heterogeneous workers," University of Tuebingen Working Papers in Economics and Finance 6, University of Tuebingen, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences.
  11. Oded Stark & J. Taylor, 1989. "Relative deprivation and international migration oded stark," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 26(1), pages 1-14, February.
  12. Stark, Oded & Micevska, Maja & Mycielski, Jerzy, 2009. "Relative poverty as a determinant of migration: Evidence from Poland," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 103(3), pages 119-122, June.
  13. Stark, Oded, 1984. "Rural-to-Urban Migration in LDCs: A Relative Deprivation Approach," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(3), pages 475-86, April.
  14. Michael A. Quinn, 2006. "Relative Deprivation, Wage Differentials and Mexican Migration," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 135-153, 02.
  15. 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.
  16. van Elkan, Rachel, 1996. "Catching up and slowing down: Learning and growth patterns in an open economy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1-2), pages 95-111, August.
  17. Stark, Oded & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 1988. "Labour Migration as a Response to Relative Deprivation," MPRA Paper 21670, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  18. Zeng, Dao-Zhi & Zhao, Laixun, 2010. "Globalization, interregional and international inequalities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 352-361, May.
  19. Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1979. "Relative Deprivation and the Gini Coefficient," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 93(2), pages 321-324.
  20. Stark, Oded & Fan, C. Simon, 2011. "Migration for degrading work as an escape from humiliation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 241-247, March.
  21. Qiu, Larry D. & Zhou, Wen, 2006. "International mergers: Incentives and welfare," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 38-58, January.
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Cited by:

  1. Stark, Oded, 2013. "Stressful Integration," Discussion Papers 150233, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
  2. Stark, Oded, 2012. "Policy responses to a dark side of the integration of regions," University of Tuebingen Working Papers in Economics and Finance 28, University of Tuebingen, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences.
  3. Stark, Oded, 2012. "Policy responses to a dark side of the integration of regions and nations," Discussion Papers 122036, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).

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