From Happiness Data to Economic Conclusions / Daniel J. Benjamin, Kristen Cooper, Ori Heffetz, Miles S. Kimball.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Benjamin, Daniel J.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Cooper, Kristen.

Heffetz, Ori.

Kimball, Miles S.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w31727.

NBER working paper series no. w31727

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2023.

Summary:

Happiness data--survey respondents' self-reported well-being (SWB)--have become increasingly common in economics research, with recent calls to use them in policymaking. Researchers have used SWB data in novel ways, for example to learn about welfare or preferences when choice data are unavailable or difficult to interpret. Focusing on leading examples of this pioneering research, the first part of this review uses a simple theoretical framework to reverse-engineer some of the crucial assumptions that underlie existing applications. The second part discusses evidence bearing on these assumptions and provides practical advice to the agencies and institutions that generate SWB data, the researchers who use them, and the policymakers who may use the resulting research. While we advocate creative uses of SWB data in economics, we caution that their use in policy will likely require both additional data collection and further research to better understand the data.

Notes:

Print version record

September 2023.