Agent-based simulations of subjective well-being

Baggio, Jacopo and Papyrakis, Elissaios (2014) Agent-based simulations of subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 115 (2). pp. 623-635. ISSN 1573-0921

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Abstract

There has been extensive empirical research in recent years pointing to a weak correlation between economic growth and subjective well-being (happiness), at least for developed economies (i.e. the so-called ‘Easterlin paradox’). Recent findings from the behavioural sciences and happiness literature link this paradoxical relationship to negative externalities on utility imposed by social comparison (i.e. relative income with respect to others) and adaptation (habituation to own income in the past). We believe that the type of economic growth (pro-poor, pro-middle, pro-rich, neutral), in combination with sensitivity to social comparison and past income, is a key determinant of happiness trajectories and future utility levels. With the use of agent-based simulations we examine the long-term dynamics of subjective-well-being by focusing attention on the type of growth process rather than the mere size of income growth. We generally find that pro-middle (and balanced) growth corresponds to much higher levels of long-term happiness in comparison to pro-rich growth.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 8 - decent work and economic growth ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/decent_work_and_economic_growth
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Climate Change Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Globalisation and CSR
Depositing User:	Elissaios Papyrakis
Date Deposited:	25 Feb 2013 12:35
Last Modified:	23 Apr 2024 13:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/41531
DOI:	10.1007/s11205-012-0231-5

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