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Income or consumption: Which better predicts subjective wellbeing?

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  • Carver, Tom
  • Grimes, Arthur

Abstract

The positive relationship between income and subjective wellbeing has been well documented. However, work assessing the relationship of alternative material wellbeing metrics to subjective wellbeing is limited. Consistent with the permanent income hypothesis, we find that a consumption measure out-performs income in predicting subjective wellbeing. When objective measures of consumption are combined with self-assessments of a household’s standard of living, income becomes insignificant altogether. We obtain our result utilising household-level data from Statistics New Zealand’s ‘New Zealand General Social Survey’ which contains a measure of material wellbeing called the ‘Economic Living Standard Index’ that combines measures of consumption flows and self-assessments of material wellbeing.

Suggested Citation

  • Carver, Tom & Grimes, Arthur, 2016. "Income or consumption: Which better predicts subjective wellbeing?," Motu Working Papers 290567, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:motuwp:290567
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.290567
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    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Dass, Malabi & Lahiri, Bidisha, 2025. "Unpacking economic mobility: The short- and long-term impacts of trade liberalization," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    3. Li, Feng & Wang, Xintao, 2024. "Misreporting in household income and expenditure: Evidence from the Chinese Household Income Project," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    4. Cristina Bernini & Silvia Emili & Federica Galli, 2021. "Does urbanization matter in the expenditure‐happiness nexus?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(6), pages 1403-1428, December.
    5. Thomas Carver & Arthur Grimes, 2019. "Income or Consumption: Which Better Predicts Subjective Well‐Being?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(S1), pages 256-280, November.
    6. Amelia Blamey & Arthur Grimes, 2025. "Optimal mapping of differing life satisfaction scales," Motu Working Papers 25_02, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    7. Li, Hao & Millimet, Daniel L. & Roychowdhury, Punarjit, 2019. "Measuring Economic Mobility in India Using Noisy Data: A Partial Identification Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 12505, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Arthur Grimes & Sean Hyland, 2020. "Measuring cross‐country material wellbeing and inequality using consumer durables," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 67(3), pages 248-271, July.
    9. Arthur Grimes, 2022. "Measuring Pandemic and Lockdown Impacts on Wellbeing," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(2), pages 409-427, June.
    10. Paul Dalziel, 2019. "Wellbeing economics in public policy: A distinctive Australasian contribution?," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 30(4), pages 478-497, December.
    11. Susanne Elsas, 2021. "Causality in the Link between Income and Satisfaction: IV Estimation with Internal Instruments," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1143, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    12. Eilya Torshizian & Arthur Grimes, 2021. "Household Crowding Measures: A Comparison and External Test of Validity," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1925-1951, April.
    13. Benjamin Ching & Tayla Forward & Oscar Parkyn, 2023. "Estimating the Distribution of Wealth in New Zealand," Treasury Working Paper Series 23/01, New Zealand Treasury.
    14. 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.
    15. Alessia Arcidiacono & Gianpiero Torrisi, 2022. "Decentralisation and Resilience: A Multidimensional Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-25, August.
    16. Cheng, Zhiming, 2021. "Education and consumption: Evidence from migrants in Chinese cities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 206-215.
    17. Giovanni D'Alessio, 2020. "A comparative evaluation of poverty measures in the Italian Survey of Household Income and Wealth," Politica economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 101-140.
    18. Lichner, Ivan & Lyócsa, Štefan & Výrostová, Eva, 2022. "Nominal and discretionary household income convergence: The effect of a crisis in a small open economy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 18-31.
    19. Jiansong Zheng & Junxian Shen, 2025. "Social Comparisons for Well-being: The Role of Power Distance," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 178(2), pages 905-928, June.
    20. Leah Haines & Arthur Grimes, 2022. "What Matters for the Wellbeing of Mothers and Children in Material Hardship? Application of a Modified Indicator Framework," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 449-474, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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