Income Inequality and Subjective Well-being: A Cross-National Study on the Conditional Effects of Individual and National Characteristics

Social Indicators Research

Volumn 113, Issue 3, 2013, Pages 1009-1023

  Rözer, Jesper ^a   Kraaykamp, Gerbert ^b  

^a UTRECHT UNIVERSITY   (Netherlands)

^b RADBOUD UNIVERSITY NIJMEGEN   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

Cross level interactions; European Value Survey; Income inequality; Subjective well being; World Value Survey

Indexed keywords

INCOME DISTRIBUTION; INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON; QUALITY OF LIFE; SURVEY;

EID: 84881025026     PISSN: 03038300     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s11205-012-0124-7     Document Type: Article

References (61)

1. Alesina, A., Di Tella, R., & MacCulloch, R. (2004). Inequality and happiness: Are Europeans and Americans different? Journal of Public Economics, 88, 2009-2044.
2. Baker, L. A., Cahalin, L. P., Gerst, K., & Burr, J. A. (2005). Productive activities and subjective well-being among older adults: The influence of number of activities and time commitment. Social Indicators Research, 73, 431-458.
3. Bay, A. H., & Pedersen, A. W. (2006). The limits of social solidarity: Basic income, immigration and the legitimacy of the universal welfare state. Acta Sociologica, 49(4), 419-436.
4. Beja, E. (2011). Subjective well-being approach to the valuation of income inequality. MPRA Paper No. 34177.
5. Berg, M., & Veenhoven, R. (2010). Income inequality and happiness in 119 nations: In search for an optimum that does not appear to exist. In B. Greve (Ed.), Social policy and happiness in Europe. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
6. Biancotti, C., & D'Alessio, G. (2008). Values, inequality and happiness. In Temi di discussione: Bank of Italy, Economic and Financial Statistics Department.
7. Bjørnskov, C., Dreher, A., & Fischer, J. A. V. (2008). Cross-country determinants of life satisfaction: Exploring different determinants across groups in society. Social Choice and Welfare, 20, 119-173.
8. Bjørnskov, C., Dreher, A., Fischer, J., & Schnellenbach J. (2010). Inequality and happiness: When perceived social mobility and economic reality do not match. CEIS Tor Vergata Research Paper Series 8 (5).
9. Clark, A. E. (2003). Inequality aversion and income mobility: A direct test. In Delta Working Papers, 11.
10. Clark, A. E., Frijters, P., & Shields, M. A. (2008). Relative income, happiness, and utility: An explanation for the Easterlin paradox and other puzzles. Journal of Economic Literature, 46(1), 95-144.
11. Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, 95-120.
12. Cramer, C. (2003). Does inequality cause conflict? Journal of International Development, 15, 397-412.
13. De Haan, J., & Sturm, J. (2000). On the relationship between economic freedom and economic growth. European Journal of Political Economy, 16, 215-241.
14. Delhey, J., & Newton, K. (2005). Predicting cross-national levels of social trust: Global pattern or Nordic exceptionalism. European Sociological Review, 21(4), 311-327.
15. Easterlin, R. (2001). Income and happiness, towards a unified theory. Economic Journal, 111, 465-484.
16. Fahey, T., & Smyth, E. (2004). Do subjective indicators measure welfare? Evidence from 33 European societies. European Societies, 6(1), 5-27.
17. Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
18. Fischer, J. A. V. (2009). The welfare effects of social mobility. In OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 93: OECD, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs.
19. Friedman, M. (1962). Capitalism and freedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
20. Goldstein, H., Carpenter, J., Kenward, M., & Levin, K. (2009). Multilevel models with multivariate mixed response types. Statistical Modelling, 9(3), 173-197.
21. Graham, C., & Felton, A. (2005). Does inequality matter to individual welfare: An initial exploration based on happiness surveys from Latin America. In Center on Social and Economic Dynamics Working Papers No. 38. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
22. Graham, C., & Pettinato, S. (2002). Happiness and hardship: Opportunity and insecurity in new market economies. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution Press.
23. Greenfield, E. A., & Marks, N. F. (2004). Formal volunteering as a protective factor for older adult's psychological well-being. Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 59b: 258-64.
24. Gustavsson, M., & Jordahl, H. (2008). Inequality and trust in Sweden: Some inequalities are more harmful than others. Journal of Public Economics, 92, 348-365.
25. Hagerty, M. R. (2000). Social comparisons of income in one's community: Evidence from national surveys of income and happiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(4), 764-771.
26. Haller, M., & Hadler, H. (2006). How social relations and structures can produce happiness and unhappiness: An international comparative analysis. Social Indicators Research, 75(2), 169-216.
27. Heitmeyer, W. (2004). Was treibt die Gesellschaft auseinander? Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
28. Hetherington, M. J. (2004). Why trust matters: Declining political trust and the demise of American liberalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
29. Hudson, J. (2006). Institutional trust and subjective well-being across the EU. Kyklos, 59(1), 43-62.
30. Inglehart, R. (1977). The silent revolution: Changing values and political styles among western publics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
31. Inglehart, R. (1990). Culture shift in advanced industrial society. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
32. Jordahl, H. (2007). Inequality and trust. Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) working paper 715.
33. Juul, S. (2010). Solidarity and social cohesion in late modernity: A question of recognition, justice and judgement in situation. European Journal of Social Theory, 13(2), 253-269.
34. Kawachi, I., Kennedey, B. P., Lochner, K., & Prothrow-Stith, D. (1997). Social capital, income inequality, and mortality. American Journal of Public Health, 87(9), 1491-1498.
35. Linsen, R., van Kempen, L., & Kraaykamp, G. (2011). Subjective well-being in rural India: The curse of conspicuous consumption. Social Indicators Research, 101(1), 57-72.
36. Lister, M. (2009). Institutions, inequality and social norms: Explaining variations in participation. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 9, 20-35.
37. Luttmer, E. F. P. (2005). Neighbors as negatives: Relative earnings and well-being. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 20(3), 963-1002.
38. Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. New-York: Longmann.
39. Nannestad, P. (2008). What have we learned about generalized trust, if anything? The Annual Review of Political Scienc, 11, 413-436.
40. Nieuwehuis, R., Pelzer, B., & Te Grotenhuis, M. (2009). Manual for influence. ME: Tools for detecting influential data in mixed models Version 0. 7.
41. Nozick, R. (1974). Anarchy, state, and utopia. New York: Basic Books.
42. O'Connell, M. (2004). Fairly satisfied: Economic equality, wealth and satisfaction. Journal of Economic Psychology, 25, 297-305.
43. Portes, A. (2000). The two meanings of social capital. Sociological Forum 15 (1).
44. Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of american community. New-York: Simon & Schuster.
45. Ram, R. (2010). Social capital and happiness: Additional cross-country evidence. Journal of Happiness Studies, 11, 409-418.
46. Rawls, J. (2006) [1971]. Een theorie van rechtvaardigheid [A theory of justice]. Rotterdam Nederlands rechten lemniscaat.
47. Rodger, J. J. (2003). Social solidarity, welfare and post-emotionalism. Journal of Sociological Policy, 32(3), 403-421.
48. Rohstein, B., & Uslaner, E. M. (2005). All for all: Equality, corruption and social trust. World Politics, 58, 41-72.
49. Rojas, M. (2007). Heterogeneity in the relationship between income and happiness: A conceptual-referent-theory explanation. Journal of Economic Psychology, 28, 1-14.
50. Scheepers, P., Gijsberts, M., & Coenders, M. (2002). Ethnic exclusionism in European counteries: Public opposition to civil rights for legal migrants as a response to perceived ethnic threat. European Sociological Review, 18(1), 17-34.
51. Schneider, S. M. (2011a). Income inequality and its consequences for life satisfaction: What role do social cognitions play? Social Indicators Research,. doi: 10. 1007/s11205-011-9816-7.
52. Schneider, S. (2011). Income inequality and its consequences for life satisfaction: What role do social cognitions play?. Social Indicators Research: 1-20.
53. Schwarze, J., & Härpfer, M. (2002). Are people inequality averse, and do they prefer redistribution by the state?. Evidence from German Longitudinal Data on Life Satisfaction. IZA Discussion Paper No. 430.
54. Snijders, T. A. B., & Bosker, R. J. (1999). Multilevel analysis: An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling. London: Sage Publications.
55. Svendsen, G. T., & Bjørnskov, C. (2007). How to construct a robust measure of social capital: Two contributions. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 9(3), 275-292.
56. Tomes, N. (1986). Income distribution, happiness and satisfaction: A direct test of the interdependent preferences model. Journal of Economic Psychology, 7, 425-446.
57. Veenhoven, R. (1984). Conditions of happiness. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
58. Veenhoven, R. (2008). Sociological theories of subjective well-being. In M. Eid & R. J. Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being. New York/London: The Guilford Press.
59. Verme, P. (2011). Life satisfaction and income inequality. Review of Income and Wealth, 57(1), 111-137.
60. Wilkinson, R., & Picket, K. (2009). The spirit level why more equal societies almost always do better. London: Penguin.
61. WVS. (1981-2008). World Value Survey Official Aggregate v. 20090901, 2009. World Values Survey Association (www. worldvaluessurvey. org). Aggregate File Producer: ASEP/JDS, Madrid.