Income, aspirations and the Hedonic Treadmill in a poor society

John Knight and Ramani Gunatilaka

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2012, vol. 82, issue 1, 67-81

Abstract: A specially designed household survey for rural China is used to analyse the determinants of aspirations for income, proxied by reported minimum income need, and the determinants of subjective well-being, both satisfaction with life and satisfaction with income. It is found that aspiration income is a positive function of actual income and reference income, and that subjective well-being is raised by actual income but lowered by aspiration income. These findings suggest the existence of a partial ‘Hedonic Treadmill’, and can help to explain why subjective well-being in China appears not to have risen despite rapid economic growth.

Keywords: Adaptation; Aspirations; China; Easterlin paradox; Happiness; Hedonic Treadmill; Subjective well-being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D60 O12 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (71)

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Working Paper: Income, Aspirations and the Hedonic Treadmill in a Poor Society (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:82:y:2012:i:1:p:67-81

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2011.12.005

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