Paul Frijters

Research Fellow

London School of Economics

p.frijters@lse.ac.uk

External Homepage

Research Interests

Paul Frijters is a Professor of Wellbeing Economics at the London School of Economics: from 2016-nov 2019 at the Center for Economic Performance, thereafter at the Department of Social Policy.

He completed his Masters in Econometrics at the University of Groningen, including a seven-month stay in Durban, South Africa before completing a PhD through the University of Amsterdam. He has also engaged in teaching and research at the University of Melbourne, the Australian National University, QUT, UQ, and now the LSE.

Professor Fritjers specializes in applied micro-econometrics, including labor, happiness, and health economics, though he has also worked on pure theoretical topics in macro and micro fields. His main area of interest is in analyzing how socio-economic variables affect the human life experience and the "unanswerable" economic mysteries in life.

Professor Frijters is a prominent research economist and has published over 150 papers in fields including unemployment policy, discrimination and economic development.

He was the Research Director of the Rumici Project, a project sponsored by the Australian Ministry of Foreign Aid (AusAid), and is also a co-editor of the journal, Economic Record. In 2009 he was voted Australia's best young economist under 40 by the Australian Economic Society.

He joined IZA as a Research Fellow in April 2010.

Filter

IZA Publications

IZA Discussion Paper No. 17100

The Failed History of Quarantines, and Its Implications for Public Health

Sanjeev Sabhlok, Paul Frijters, Gigi Foster, Jay Bhattacharya, Ari R Joffe

IZA Discussion Paper No. 15294

Hiding the Elephant: The Tragedy of COVID Policy and Its Economist Apologists

Gigi Foster, Paul Frijters

IZA Discussion Paper No. 14220

Resilience to Disaster: Evidence from Daily Wellbeing Data

Paul Frijters, David W. Johnston, Rachel Knott, Benno Torgler

published in: Global Environmental Change, 2023, 79, 102639

IZA Discussion Paper No. 13507

Caught between Cultures: Unintended Consequences of Improving Opportunity for Immigrant Girls

Gordon B. Dahl, Christina Felfe, Paul Frijters, Helmut Rainer

published in: Review of Economic Studies, 2022, 89 (5), 2491 - 2528

IZA Discussion Paper No. 13063

Psychological Resilience to Major Socioeconomic Life Events

Fabrice Etilé, Paul Frijters, David W. Johnston, Michael A. Shields

published as 'Measuring resilience to major life events' in: Elsevier Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2021, 191, 598-619

IZA Discussion Paper No. 13021

Machiavelli versus Concave Utility Functions: Should Bads Be Spread out or Concentrated?

Paul Frijters, Christian Krekel, Aydogan Ulker

published as 'Should bads be inflicted all at once, like Machiavelli said? Evidence from life-satisfaction data' in: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2023, 205, 1 - 27

IZA Discussion Paper No. 12720

A Happy Choice: Wellbeing as the Goal of Government

Paul Frijters, Andrew E. Clark, Christian Krekel, Richard Layard

published in: Behavioural Public Policy, 2020, 4(2), 126–165

IZA Discussion Paper No. 11206

Who Got the Brexit Blues? Using a Quasi-Experiment to Show the Effect of Brexit on Subjective Wellbeing in the UK

Nattavudh Powdthavee, Anke C. Plagnol, Paul Frijters, Andrew E. Clark

published in: Economica, 2019, 86 (343), 471-494

IZA Discussion Paper No. 10683

Is Transparency an Anti-Corruption Myth?

Cameron K. Murray, Paul Frijters, Markus Schaffner

IZA Discussion Paper No. 9894

Improving the Peer Review Process: A Proposed Market System

Paul Frijters, Benno Torgler

IZA Discussion Paper No. 9028

Clean Money in a Dirty System: Relationship Networks and Land Rezoning in Queensland

Cameron K. Murray, Paul Frijters

published in: Journal of Urban Economics, 2016, 93(C), 99-114

IZA Discussion Paper No. 9010

Give and You Shall Receive: The Emergence of Welfare-Reducing Reciprocity

Cameron K. Murray, Paul Frijters, Melissa Vorster

IZA Discussion Paper No. 8843

Who Is Coming to the Artefactual Field Experiment? Participation Bias among Chinese Rural Migrants

Paul Frijters, Tao Sherry Kong, Elaine M. Liu

published in: Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation, 2015, 114 (C), 62-74

IZA Discussion Paper No. 7988

When Banana Import Restrictions Lead to Exports: A Tale of Cyclones and Quarantine Policies

Chia Chiun Ko, Paul Frijters

IZA Discussion Paper No. 7300

Still Not Allowed on the Bus: It Matters If You're Black or White!

Redzo Mujcic, Paul Frijters

published as 'The Colour of a Free Ride' in: Economic Journal, 2021, 131 (634), 970–999

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5967

Migrant Entrepreneurs and Credit Constraints under Labour Market Discrimination

Paul Frijters, Tao Sherry Kong, Xin Meng

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5819

Destined for (Un)Happiness: Does Childhood Predict Adult Life Satisfaction?

Paul Frijters, David W. Johnston, Michael A. Shields

published as 'Does Childhood Predict Adult Life Satisfaction? Evidence from British Cohort Surveys' in: Economic Journal, 2014, 124 (580), F688-F719

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5648

Altruism in Society: Evidence from a Natural Experiment Involving Commuters

Redzo Mujcic, Paul Frijters

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5157

Economic Choices and Status: Measuring Preferences for Income Rank

Redzo Mujcic, Paul Frijters

published in: Oxford Economic Papers, 2013, vol. 65(1), 47-73

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5153

Intra-household Resource Allocation: Do Parents Reduce or Reinforce Child Cognitive Ability Gaps?

Paul Frijters, David W. Johnston, Manisha Shah, Michael A. Shields

published in: Demography, 2013, 50 (6), 2187-2208

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4902

The Cult of Theoi: Economic Uncertainty and Religion

Paul Frijters, Juan D. Barón

published in: Economic Record, 2012, 88, 116-136

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4883

Mental Health and Labour Market Participation: Evidence from IV Panel Data Models

Paul Frijters, David W. Johnston, Michael A. Shields

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4149

Do the Obese Really Die Younger or Do Health Expenditures Buy Them Extra Years?

Paul Frijters, Juan D. Barón

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4025

Persistencies in the Labour Market

Paul Frijters, Maarten Lindeboom, Gerard J. van den Berg

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3604

Happiness Dynamics with Quarterly Life Event Data

Paul Frijters, David W. Johnston, Michael A. Shields

published as 'Life Satisfaction Dynamics with Quarterly Life Event Data' in: Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 2011, 113 (1), 190 - 211

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3537

Early Child Development and Maternal Labor Force Participation: Using Handedness as an Instrument

Paul Frijters, David W. Johnston, Manisha Shah, Michael A. Shields

published in: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2009, 1(3), 97–110

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3042

Childhood Economic Conditions and Length of Life: Evidence from the UK Boyd Orr Cohort, 1937–2005

Paul Frijters, Michael A. Shields, Timothy J. Hatton, Richard M. Martin

published in: Journal of Health Economics, 2010, 29 (1), 39-47

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2840

Relative Income, Happiness and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles

Andrew E. Clark, Paul Frijters, Michael A. Shields

published in: Journal of Economic Literature, 2008, 46 (1), 95-144

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2219

Quantifying the Cost of Passive Smoking on Child Health: Evidence from Children’s Cotinine Samples

Paul Frijters, Michael A. Shields, Stephen Wheatley Price, Jenny Williams

revised version published in: Journal of The Royal Statistical Society Series A-Statistics In Society, 174 (1) 2011, 195-212

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2068

From Golden Age to Golden Age: Australia's "Great Leap Forward"?

Paul Frijters, Bob Gregory

published in: The Economic Record, 82 (257) 2006, 207-224

IZA Discussion Paper No. 1488

Socio-Economic Status, Health Shocks, Life Satisfaction and Mortality: Evidence from an Increasing Mixed Proportional Hazard Model

Paul Frijters, John de New, Michael A. Shields

revised version published as 'The Increasingly Mixed Proportional Hazard Model: An Application to Socioeconomic Status, Health Shocks, and Mortality' in: Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, 2011, 29 (2), 271-281

IZA Discussion Paper No. 1407

Job Search with Nonparticipation

Paul Frijters, Bas van der Klaauw

published in: Economic Journal, 2006, 116 (508), 45-83

IZA Discussion Paper No. 1211

Do You Need a Job to Find a Job?

Deborah A. Cobb-Clark, Paul Frijters, Guyonne Kalb

IZA Discussion Paper No. 1164

To Teach or Not to Teach? Panel Data Evidence on the Quitting Decision

Paul Frijters, Michael A. Shields, Stephen Wheatley Price

IZA Discussion Paper No. 923

Reducing Start-Up Costs for New Firms: The Double Dividend on the Labour Market