The Relationship between Age and Subjective Well-Being: Estimating Within and Between Effects Simultaneously

Philipp Biermann, Jürgen Bitzer and Erkan Goeren ()
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Erkan Goeren: University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Erkan Gören

No V-421-19, Working Papers from University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics

Abstract: Based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we used a correlated random effects econometric framework to simultaneously estimate the within and between effects of age on subjective well-being. The proposed approach overcomes the ambiguity in the relationship between age and subjective well-being reported in a series of studies based on cross-sectional and/or longitudinal panel data. Our results suggest that a cubic-type functional relationship between well-being and age fits the data best, leading to highly significant coefficient estimates associated with the age variables, and consistent within and between effects of age on subjective well-being. A linear or quadratic functional relationship between well-being and age is not empirically supported, as the between and within estimates of age on well-being differ significantly from each other. The main findings are robust to the inclusion of a broad range of individual-level sociological, demographic, and economic controls, and to the inclusion of various interviewer controls such as survey experience, survey type, and interviewer fixed effects.

Keywords: Subjective Well-Being; Life Cycle Happiness; Cohort Effects; Mundlak Approach; Correlated Random Effects; Fixed Effects; Between- and Within-Person Effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-03, Revised 2019-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-eur and nep-hap
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Oldenburg Working Papers V-421-19

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Related works:
Journal Article: The relationship between age and subjective well-being: Estimating within and between effects simultaneously (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:old:dpaper:421

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