Adaption or social comparison? The effects of income on happiness
Two mechanisms have attracted considerable attention from researchers studying the effects of income on happiness: adaptation and social comparison. In most empirical studies these two mechanisms have been considered separately. This paper contributes to the literature by jointly testing for the presence of adaptation and social comparison using UK data. Our results show that the data supports both adaptation and social comparison when we test them separately, but that only adaptation survives when we test them jointly. The result has important consequences for public policy and for our understanding of human motivation.
Year of publication: |
2008-11
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Authors: | Angeles, Luis |
Institutions: | Department of Economics, Adam Smith Business School |
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