Unhappy Cities

Edward Glaeser, Joshua Gottlieb and Oren Ziv

No 20291, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: There are persistent differences in self-reported subjective well-being across U.S. metropolitan areas, and residents of declining cities appear less happy than other Americans. Newer residents of these cities appear to be as unhappy as longer term residents, and yet some people continue to move to these areas. While the historical data on happiness are limited, the available facts suggest that cities that are now declining were also unhappy in their more prosperous past. One interpretation of these facts is that individuals do not aim to maximize self-reported well-being, or happiness, as measured in surveys, and they willingly endure less happiness in exchange for higher incomes or lower housing costs. In this view, subjective well-being is better viewed as one of many arguments of the utility function, rather than the utility function itself, and individuals make trade-offs among competing objectives, including but not limited to happiness.

JEL-codes: D00 I00 J00 R00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hap, nep-lma, nep-ltv, nep-neu and nep-ure
Note: EFG LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published as Edward L. Glaeser & Joshua D. Gottlieb & Oren Ziv, 2016. "Unhappy Cities," Journal of Labor Economics, vol 34(S2), pages S129-S182.

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