@techreport{Oswald2010Objective,
abstract = {A huge research literature, across the behavioral and social sciences, uses information on individuals' subjective well-being. These are responses to questions - asked by survey interviewers or medical personnel - such as how happy do you feel on a scale from 1 to 4? Yet there is little scientific evidence that such data are meaningful. This study examines a 2005-2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System random sample of 1.3 million United States citizens. Life-satisfaction in each U.S. state is measured. Across America, people's answers trace out the same pattern of quality of life as previously estimated, using solely non-subjective data, in a literature from economics (so-called 'compensating differentials' neoclassical theory due originally to Adam Smith). There is a state-by-state match (r = 0.6, p < 0.001) between subjective and objective well-being. This result has some potential to help to unify disciplines.},
address = {Bonn},
author = {Andrew J. Oswald and Stephen Wu},
copyright = {http://www.econstor.eu/dspace/Nutzungsbedingungen},
keywords = {I31; 330; Happiness; well-being; compensating differentials; spatial equilibrium; Lebenszufriedenheit; Gesundheit; Lebensqualit\"{a}t; R\"{a}umliche Verteilung; Sch\"{a}tzung; USA},
language = {eng},
number = {4695},
publisher = {IZA},
title = {Objective confirmation of subjective measures of human well-being: evidence from the USA},
type = {IZA Discussion Papers},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10419/36221},
year = {2010}
}
