Citation

Graham, Carol; Eggers, Andrew; & Sukhtankar, Sandip (2004). Does happiness pay? An exploration based on panel data from Russia. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 55(3), 319-342.

Abstract

Well-being research has supported the common sense view that income, health, and other factors affect happiness. We use panel data from Russia to assess the reverse causation — that happiness itself affects income, health, and other factors. We find that people who had higher “residual happiness” in 1995 – people who were happier after correcting for the usual determinants of well-being – made more money and were in better health in a survey 5 years later. Psychologists attribute a large part of well-being to factors such as self-esteem and optimism. The same factors appear to influence individuals’ wealth and health.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2003.09.002

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2004

Journal Title

Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization

Author(s)

Graham, Carol
Eggers, Andrew
Sukhtankar, Sandip