The Dynamics of Individual Happiness

Lionel Wilner

No 2019-18, Working Papers from Center for Research in Economics and Statistics

Abstract: This paper unveils the role played by state dependence in self-assessed happiness. It estimates a dynamic nonlinear model of subjective well-being on longitudinal data, primarily from France, as well as from Australia, Germany, and the UK. Life satisfaction is found to be highly persistent over time, which static models ignore. The impact of state dependence is large in comparison with usual determinants of happiness in static models. More-over, this persistence is heterogeneous across individuals and concerns those already happy with their lives.

Keywords: Happiness; subjective well-being; life satisfaction; dynamic model; state dependence; correlated random effects; initial condition. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2019-08-25
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-hap and nep-ltv
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Related works:
Working Paper: Malheur éphémère, bonheur durable (2022)
Working Paper: The persistence of subjective wellbeing: permanent happiness, transitory misery? (2020)
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