%0 Report
        %A Oswald, Andrew J.
%A Powdthavee, Nattavudh
        %T Death, Happiness, and the Calculation of Compensatory Damages
        %D 2007
        %8 2007 Nov
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 3159
        %U https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp3159
        %X 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.
        %K well-being
%K GHQ scores
%K compensation
%K happiness
%K damages
%K bereavement