Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
Loading next page...
/lp/american-economic-association/developments-in-the-measurement-of-subjective-well-being-0B2DE3QvVY
References
References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.
- Publisher
- American Economic Association
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2006 by the American Economic Association
- ISSN
- 0895-3309
- DOI
- 10.1257/089533006776526030
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
Abstract Direct reports of subjective well-being may have a useful role in the measurement of consumer preferences and social welfare, if they can be done in a credible way. Can well-being be measured by a subjective survey, even approximately? In this paper, we discuss research on how individuals' responses to subjective well-being questions vary with their circumstances and other factors. We will argue that it is fruitful to distinguish among different conceptions of utility rather than presume to measure a single, unifying concept that motivates all human choices and registers all relevant feelings and experiences. While various measures of well-being are useful for some purposes, it is important to recognize that subjective well-being measures features of individuals' perceptions of their experiences, not their utility as economists typically conceive of it. Those perceptions are a more accurate gauge of actual feelings if they are reported closer to the time of, and in direct reference to, the actual experience. We conclude by proposing the U-index, a misery index of sorts, which measures the proportion of time that people spend in an unpleasant state, and has the virtue of not requiring a cardinal conception of individuals' feelings.
Journal
Journal of Economic Perspectives – American Economic Association
Published: Mar 1, 2006