This paper explores the determinants of individual well-being as measured by self-reported levels of satisfaction with …

People gain utility from occupying a higher ranked position in the income distribution of the reference group. This … the German Socioeconomic Panel dataset (SOEP), a subjective question on Life Satisfaction, and three different sets of non … economic ladder. By contrast, the Life Satisfaction reaction to changes in economic status is significantly lower among …

Germany in the eighties and nineties. Special emphasis is given to the separation of permanent and transitory components, the … that 52 to 69 percent of income inequality in West Germany were due to permanent differences between individuals and that … poor individuals stayed in poverty for two years on average. In East Germany, the contribution of the permanent component …

Western Germany, more so than in the USA, and inequality did not rise as much. …

markets. Using German administrative data we describe wage mobility since 1975 in West and since 1992 in East Germany. Wage … mobility declined substantially in East Germany in the 1990s and moderately in East and West Germany since the late 1990s …

income. The effects on life-satisfaction are positive and significant for those under 45, consistent with Hirschman's (1973 … comparison income effect. In East Germany the reference income effects are insignificant for all. With data from the British …

concept of happiness, i.e. self-reported level of satisfaction with income and life, and relative deprivation/satisfaction, i …-being depending more on relative satisfaction than on absolute levels of income. This finding holds even after controlling for other …

also a driver of behavior and life's outcomes? Rich survey data of recent entrants into unemployment in Germany show that a … probability and the reentry wage. Residual life satisfaction displays higher (or lower) satisfaction levels than would be …