Direct evidence for income comparisons and subjective well-being across reference groups

Laszlo Goerke and Markus Pannenberg

Economics Letters, 2015, vol. 137, issue C, 95-101

Abstract: This note provides evidence for the relationship between income comparisons and subjective well-being (SWB), using novel German data on self-reported comparison intensity and perceived relative income for seven reference groups. We find negative correlations between comparison intensity and SWB for colleagues, people in the same occupation and friends, but not for other reference groups, such as neighbours. Work-related income comparisons are mostly upwards and there is a strong negative correlation between perceiving to earn less than the reference group and SWB.

Keywords: Income comparisons; German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP); Relative income; Subjective well-being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D62 I31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (63)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Direct Evidence for Income Comparisons and Subjective Well-Being across Reference Groups (2015)
Working Paper: Direct Evidence for Income Comparisons and Subjective Well-Being across Reference Groups (2015)
Working Paper: Direct Evidence for Income Comparisons and Subjective Well-Being across Reference Groups (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:137:y:2015:i:c:p:95-101

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2015.10.012

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