Did the Decline in Social Capital Decrease American Happiness? A Relational Explanation of the Happiness Paradox

TL;DR: In this paper, a factor analysis is performed to summarize information coming from a large set of variables into different components corresponding to each dimension of social capital (i.e., networks, norms, and trust).

TL;DR: For example, this paper found that comparator income has a negative effect on happiness equal in magnitude to the positive effect of own income, and that comparisons matter more than actual relative income.

TL;DR: The analysis shows that online networking yields a storage mechanism through which any individual contribution—e.g. a blog post, a comment, or a photo—is stored within a particular network and ready for virtual access by each member who connects to the network.

TL;DR: The recent availability of cross-sectional and longitudinal survey data on life satisfaction in a large number of countries gives us the opportunity to verify empirically what matters for individuals and what economists and policymakers should take into account when trying to promote personal and societal well-being.

TL;DR: The authors show that performance incentives offered by an informed principal can adversely affect an agent's perception of the task, or of his own abilities, and also study the effects of empowerment, help and excuses on motivation, as well as situations of ego bashing reflecting a battle for dominance within a relationship.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors suggest that the material norms on which judgments of well-being are based increase in the same proportion as the actual income of the society, and that raising the incomes of all does not increase the happiness of all.

Abstract: 'Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.' In The Theory of the Leisure Class Thorstein Veblen sets out 'to discuss the place and value of the leisure class as an economic factor in modern life'. In so doing he produced a landmark study of affluent American society that exposes, with brilliant ruthlessness, the habits of production and waste that link invidious business tactics and barbaric social behaviour. Veblen's analysis of the evolutionary process sees greed as the overriding motive in the modern economy; with an impartial gaze he examines the human cost paid when social institutions exploit the consumption of unessential goods for the sake of personal profit. Fashion, beauty, animals, sports, the home, the clergy, scholars - all are assessed for their true usefulness and found wanting. The targets of Veblen's coruscating satire are as evident today as they were a century ago, and his book still has the power to shock and enlighten. Veblen's uncompromising arguments and the influential literary force of his writing are assessed in Martha Banta's Introduction. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

TL;DR: This paper developed a conditional estimator for the fixed-effect ordered logit model and found that assuming ordinality or cardinality of happiness scores makes little difference, whilst allowing for fixed-effects does change results substantially.