Not logged in.

Contribution Details

Type Working Paper
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title The Role of Income Aspirations in Individual Happiness
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Alois Stutzer
Language
  • English
Institution University of Zurich
Series Name Working paper series / Institute for Empirical Research in Economics
Number No. 124
ISSN 1424-0459
Date 2003
Abstract Text Does individual well-being depend on the absolute level of income and consumption or is it relative to one's aspirations? In a direct empirical test, it is found that higher income aspirations reduce people's utility, ceteris paribus. Individual data on reported satisfaction with life are used as a proxy measure for utility, and income evaluation measures are applied as proxies for people's aspiration levels. Consistent with processes of adaptation and social comparison, income aspirations increase with people's income as well as with the average income in the community they live in.
Official URL http://www.econ.uzh.ch/wp.html
PDF File Download from ZORA
Export BibTeX
EP3 XML (ZORA)