Unemployment, Social Capital, and Subjective Well-Being

Rainer Winkelmann

No 2346, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: It has been shown in past research that unemployment has a large negative impact on subjective well-being of individuals. In this paper, I explore whether and to what extent people with more social capital are sheltered from the harmful effects of unemployment. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel 1984-2004, I find that social capital is an important predictor of well-being levels, but there is no evidence that it moderates the effect of unemployment on well-being. The well-being loss, in turn, is shown to predict job search and re-employment. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed, and suggestions for future research are given.

Keywords: happiness; German Socio-Economic Panel; search; regression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I31 J64 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2006-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published - published in: Journal of Happiness Studies, 2009, 10 (4), 421-430

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Journal Article: Unemployment, Social Capital, and Subjective Well-Being (2009)
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