The Asymmetric Experience of Positive and Negative Economic Growth: Global Evidence Using Subjective Well-Being Data

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel; Ward, George; De Keulenaer, Femke; Van Landeghem, Bert; Kavetsos, Georgios; Norton, Michael I.
• 署名单位: University of Oxford; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); University of Sheffield; Maastricht University; IZA Institute Labor Economics; University of London; Queen Mary University London; Harvard University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/REST_a_00697
• 发表日期: 2018-05
• 页码: 362-375
• 关键词: Loss aversion; life satisfaction; prospect-theory; welfare cost; income; happiness; utility; unemployment; PARADOX; happy

摘要

Are individuals more sensitive to losses than gains in terms of economic growth?We find that measures of subjective well-being are more than twice as sensitive to negative as compared to positive economic growth. We use Gallup World Poll data from over 150 countries, BRFSS data on 2.3 million U.S. respondents, and Eurobarometer data that cover multiple business cycles over four decades. This research provides a new perspective on the welfare cost of business cycles, with implications for growth policy and the nature of the long-run relationship between GDP and subjective well-being.