TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Oswald, Andrew J.
AU  - Wu, Stephen
        TI  - Objective Confirmation of Subjective Measures of Human Well-being: Evidence from the USA
        PY  - 2010/Jan/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 4695
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp4695
        AB  - 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.
        KW  - compensating differentials
KW  - well-being
KW  - happiness
KW  - spatial equilibrium
        ER  -