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With or Without You? Measuring the Quality of Relational Life Throughout the World

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  • Luca Stanca

Abstract

This paper proposes a new method for the measurement of the quality of relational life. Building on the recent literature on the determinants of subjective well-being, we use implicit valuations estimated from microeconometric life-satisfaction equations to weigh and aggregate scores on several dimensions of relational life. We apply the proposed method to a large sample of individuals from 82 countries, to construct indicators that focus on three dimensions of interpersonal relations: friends, family, and society. We use the constructed indicators to compare the quality of relational life across countries throughout the world and to explore its determinants at individual and country level. Overall, the results indicate that, ceteris paribus, better economic conditions are associated with higher quality of interpersonal relationships.

Suggested Citation

  • Luca Stanca, 2008. "With or Without You? Measuring the Quality of Relational Life Throughout the World," Working Papers 144, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2008.
    • Handle: RePEc:mib:wpaper:144
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    Cited by:

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    2. Paola Zappa & Emma Zavarrone, 2010. "Social interaction and volunteer satisfaction: an exploratory study in primary healthcare," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 57(2), pages 215-231, June.
    3. Leonardo Becchetti & Elena Giachin Ricca & Alessandra Pelloni, 2009. "Children, happiness and taxation," Econometica Working Papers wp12, Econometica.
    4. Chengedzai Mafini & Daniel Meyer, 2016. "Societal Factors and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from Low Income Urban Societies in a Developing Country," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 8(3), pages 87-100.
    5. Rotondi, Valentina & Stanca, Luca & Tomasuolo, Miriam, 2017. "Connecting alone: Smartphone use, quality of social interactions and well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 17-26.
    6. Timothy Tyler Brown, 2013. "A monetary valuation of individual religious behaviour: the case of prayer," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(15), pages 2031-2037, May.
    7. Barbara Cavalletti & Matteo Corsi, 2018. "“Beyond GDP” Effects on National Subjective Well-Being of OECD Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 931-966, April.
    8. Jarvis, Diane & Stoeckl, Natalie & Liu, Hong-Bo, 2016. "The impact of economic, social and environmental factors on trip satisfaction and the likelihood of visitors returning," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1-18.
    9. Luca Stanca & Ruut Veenhoven, 2015. "Consumption and happiness: an introduction," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 62(2), pages 91-99, June.
    10. Colombo, Emilio & Stanca, Luca, 2014. "Measuring the monetary value of social relations: A hedonic approach," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 77-87.
    11. Victoria Ateca-Amestoy, 2011. "Leisure and Subjective Well-being," Chapters, in: Samuel Cameron (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Leisure, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Leonardo Becchetti & Elena Giachin Ricca & Alessandra Pelloni, 2013. "The Paradox of Children and Life Satisfaction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 111(3), pages 725-751, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    subjective well-being; relational capital; quality of life;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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