Do Wealth Shocks Matter for the Life Satisfaction of the Elderly? Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

Marco Cozzi and Qiushan Li ()
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Qiushan Li: Department of Economics, University of Victoria, https://www.uvic.ca/socialsciences/economics/

No 2002, Department Discussion Papers from Department of Economics, University of Victoria

Abstract: This note studies the determinants of life satisfaction for the elderly and near-elderly in the U.S., using data from the Health and Retirement Study. The econometric analysis exploits the 2008-09 financial crisis as a source of exogenous variation in wealth, caused by a long-lasting decrease in asset prices. Although absolute changes in wealth are not found to systematically affect individuals' well-being, losing 60% or more of the pre-crisis wealth negatively impacted measures of life satisfaction.

Keywords: Wealth; Uninsurable shocks; Life Satisfaction; Subjective Well-Being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 19 pages
Date: 2020-12-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-hap and nep-hea
Note: ISSN 1914-2838 JEL Classifications: D14, E21, I31, J14
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Journal Article: Do wealth shocks matter for the life satisfaction of the elderly? Evidence from the health and retirement study (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vic:vicddp:2002

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