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Does the Internet make people happier ?

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Thierry Pénard

    (University of Rennes 1 - CREM-CNRS, Marsouin)

  • Nicolas Poussing

    (CEPS / INSTEAD, CREM-CNRS)

  • Raphaël Suire

    (University of Rennes 1 - CREM-CNRS, Marsouin)

Abstract

As people are spending more time online, it is important to evaluate the impact of Internet use on individual well-being. Internet use yields direct utility and economic returns (e.g. better job, higher productivity) that may increase life satisfaction. But the Internet might also have detrimental effects (addiction, social isolation, e.g.). This paper empirically examines the relation between Internet use and subjective well-being. Using Luxemburgish data from a European social survey, we find evidence that non users are less satisfied in their life than Internet users. This result holds when we control for socio-demographic characteristics, social capital, values and beliefs, and health and income. Moreover, the positive influence of Internet use is stronger for low income and young individuals. These findings suggest that public policy aiming to reduce the digital divide are socially desirable

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Paper provided by Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes 1, University of Caen and CNRS in its series Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes 1 & University of Caen) with number 201106.

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Date of creation: Jul 2011
Handle: RePEc:tut:cremwp:201106
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Keywords: Internet; happiness; well-being; digital divide; social capital; social values;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines
  • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
  • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
  • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
  • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
  • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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References listed on IDEAS
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Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

Blog mentions

As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
  1. The Internet makes you happy
    by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2011-09-23 14:43:00
  2. Does the Internet make people happier?
    by UDADISI in UDADISI on 2013-09-23 00:47:00
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
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Cited by:

  1. Thierry Pénard & Alexandre Mayol, 2015. "Facebook use and individual well-being: Like me to make me happier!," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes 1 & University of Caen) 201506, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes 1, University of Caen and CNRS.
  2. Fabio Sabatini & Francesco Sarracino, 2014. "E-participation: Social Capital and the Internet," Working Papers 2014.81, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
  3. Fabio Sabatini & Francesco Sarracino, 2013. "Will Facebook save or destroy social capital? An empirical investigation into the effect of online interactions on trust and networks," Department of Economics University of Siena 692, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
  4. Salahodjaev, Raufhon, 2014. "Can religion buy happiness? The case of Singapore," MPRA Paper 56777, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  5. Nie, Peng & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2015. "Commute time and subjective well-being in urban China," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 09-2015, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
  6. Mary Callaghan & Colette Kelly & Michal Molcho, 2015. "Exploring traditional and cyberbullying among Irish adolescents," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 60(2), pages 199-206, February.
  7. Angelo Antoci & Fabio Sabatini & Mauro Sodini, 2014. "Bowling alone but tweeting together: the evolution of human interaction in the social networking era," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 1911-1927, July.
  8. Peng Nie & Alfonso Sousa-Poza & Galit Nimrod, 2017. "Internet Use and Subjective Well-Being in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 489-516, May.
  9. Valentina, Rotondi & Luca, Stanca & Miriam, Tomasuolo, 2016. "Connecting Alone: Smartphone Use, Quality of Social Interactions and Well-being," Working Papers 357, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised 31 Dec 2016.
  10. Lelkes, Orsolya, 2012. "Happier and less isolated: internet use in old age," MPRA Paper 42546, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  11. Sabatini, Fabio & Sarracino, Francesco, 2014. "Online networks and subjective well-being," MPRA Paper 58119, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 25 Aug 2014.
  12. Salahodjaev, Raufhon, 2015. "IQ and the wellbeing of nations," MPRA Paper 66356, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  13. Smaranda Pantea & Bertin Martens, 2014. "The Value of the Internet for Consumers," JRC Working Papers on Digital Economy 2014-08, Joint Research Centre (Seville site).

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