Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSOEP), it is shown that income comparison with persons who are better off has a clear impact on the job satisfaction of West German full-time employees. Two contrary effects can be identified. On the one hand, there is an aversion to...

We analyze how income ranks influence job satisfaction. Rank is defined as the wage percentile in which the individual is in a given year. We estimate a distributed lag model on GSOEP data in order to analyze the impact of past ranks and of past rank changes on self-reported satisfaction and to...

Subjective well-being is essential for both quality of life and a healthy society. Studies have shown that satisfied people have better relationships, are more productive, and have a longer life expectancy. General life satisfaction is being discussed as an alternative measure of prosperity...

One reason to be concerned about income inequality is the idea that people not only care about their own absolute income, but also their income relative to various reference groups (e.g. co-workers, friends, neighbors, relatives, etc.). We use Canadian linked employer-employee data to estimate...

The aim of this paper is to provide fresh empirical evidence on the mechanisms through which wage inequality affects worker satisfaction.Theoretically, the wages of others may affect workers' utility for two main reasons: Workers may derive well-being from their social status (the comparison...

Using the 2006 Gallup World Survey of life satisfaction in 130 countries, this paper finds a very solid relationship between satisfaction and income (both across and within countries) and uncovers the “unhappy growth paradox,” whereby faster growth rates are accompanied by lower levels of...