Identifying Welfare Effects from Subjective Questions
The authors argue that the welfare inferences drawn from subjective answers to questions on qualitative surveys are clouded by concerns about the structure of measurement errors and how latent psychological factors influence observed respondent cha...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2000/03/437971/identifying-welfare-effects-subjective-questions http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19849 |
| Summary: | The authors argue that the welfare
inferences drawn from subjective answers to questions on
qualitative surveys are clouded by concerns about the
structure of measurement errors and how latent psychological
factors influence observed respondent characteristics. They
propose a panel data model to high-quality panel data for
Russia for 1994-96, they find that some results widely
reported in past studies of subjective well-being appear to
be robust but others do not. Household income, for example,
is a highly significant predictor of self-rated economic
welfare; per capita income is a weaker predictor. Ill health
and loss of a job reduce self-reported economic welfare; per
capita income is a weaker predictor. Ill health and loss of
a job reduce self-reported economic welfare, but demographic
effects are weak at a given current income. And the effects
of unemployment is not robust. Returning to work does not
restore a sense of welfare unless there is an income gain.
The results imply that even transient unemployment brings
the feeling of a permanent welfare loss, suggesting that
high unemployment benefits do not attract people out of work
but do discourage a return to work. |
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