Econometric analyses in the happiness literature typically use subjective well-being (SWB) data to compare the mean of … observed or latent happiness across samples. Recent critiques show that comparing the mean of ordinal data is only valid under … studies in the economics of happiness literature have been futile. In order to salvage some of the prior results and avoid …

Econometric analyses in the happiness literature typically use subjective well-being (SWB) data to compare the mean of … observed or latent happiness across samples. Recent critiques show that com-paring the mean of ordinal data is only valid under … studies in the economics of happiness literature have been futile. In order to salvage some of the prior results and avoid …