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http://hdl.handle.net/10419/34425
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| Title: | | Death, happiness, and the calculation of compensatory damages  |
| Authors: | | Oswald, Andrew J. Powdthavee, Nattavudh |
| Issue Date: | | 2007 |
| Series/Report no.: | | IZA Discussion Papers 3159 |
| Abstract: | | This paper studies the mental distress caused by bereavement. The largest emotional losses are from the death of a spouse; the second-worst in severity are the losses from the death of a child; the third-worst is the death of a parent. The paper explores how happiness regression equations might be used in tort cases to calculate compensatory damages for emotional harm and pain-and-suffering. We examine alternative well-being variables, discuss adaptation, consider the possibility that bereavement affects someone's marginal utility of income, and suggest a procedure for correcting for the endogeneity of income. Although the paper's contribution is methodological, and further research is needed, some illustrative compensation amounts are discussed. |
| Subjects: | | Bereavement damages happiness compensation well-being GHQ scores |
| JEL: | | D1 |
| Document Type: | | Working Paper |
| Appears in Collections: | | IZA Discussion Papers, Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit (IZA)
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