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The Value of Reunification in Germany: An Analysis of Changes in Life Satisfaction

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  • Paul Frijters
  • John P. Haisken-DeNew
  • Michale A. Shields

Abstract

We quantify the value of changes in life circumstances in Germany following reunification. To this end, we develop and implement a fixed-effect estimator for ordinal life satisfaction in the German Socio-Economic Panel. We find strong negative effects on life satisfaction from being recently fired, losing a spouse through either death or separation and time spent in hospital, whilst we find strong positive effects from income and marriage. Using a new casual decomposition technique, we find that East Germans experienced a continued improvement in life satisfaction after 1990 to which increased household incomes contributed around 12%. Most of the increase is explained by improved average circumstances, such as public services. For West Germans, we find virtually no change in satisfaction between 1991 and 1999.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Frijters & John P. Haisken-DeNew & Michale A. Shields, 2001. "The Value of Reunification in Germany: An Analysis of Changes in Life Satisfaction," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 828, The University of Melbourne.
    • Handle: RePEc:mlb:wpaper:828
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    Cited by:

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    3. Bruce Headey & Mark Wooden, 2004. "The Effects of Wealth and Income on Subjective Well‐Being and Ill‐Being," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 80(s1), pages 24-33, September.
    4. Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada, 2005. "Income and well-being: an empirical analysis of the comparison income effect," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(5-6), pages 997-1019, June.
    5. Kalyuzhnova, Yelena & Kambhampati, Uma, 2008. "The determinants of individual happiness in Kazakhstan," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 285-299, September.
    6. Díaz Serrano, Luis, 2008. "Individual Aspirations and Satisfaction:Quantifying the Importance of Homeownership," Working Papers 2072/13268, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    7. Paul Frijters & John P. Haisken-DeNew & Michael Shields, 2003. "Estimating The Causal Effect of Income on Health: Evidence from Post Reunification East Germany," CEPR Discussion Papers 465, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    8. Claudia Senik, 2005. "Income distribution and well‐being: what can we learn from subjective data?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(1), pages 43-63, February.
    9. Aekapol Chongvilaivan & Kiyoshi Taniguchi & Rommel Rabanal, 2016. "Impacts of Road Access on Subjective Well-being in Timor-Leste," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 30(1), pages 91-114, March.
    10. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell, 2002. "Income and Well-being," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 02-019/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    11. Nicoletti, Cheti, 2006. "Differences in job dissatisfaction across Europe," ISER Working Paper Series 2006-42, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    12. Stuart Kells, 2002. "The Australian Book Auction Records," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 830, The University of Melbourne.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Life satisfaction; German Reunification; Random and Fixed-Effects Panel Models; Causal Decomposition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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