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This paper applies a recently developed method of ranking socioeconomic inequality in health to ranking U.S. happiness from 1994 to 2012 using the GSS data. We also compare happiness between subgroups as decomposed by gender, race, and age. We establish and test a monotone condition of happiness – a richer person is likely to be happier. Under the monotone condition, standard tools of welfare and inequality ranking can be applied straightforwardly.

A growing polarization of society accompanied by an erosion of the middle class is receiving increasing attention in recent German economic and social policy discussion. Our study contributes to this discussion in two ways: First, on a theoretical level we propose extended multidimensional polarization indices based on a constant elasticity of substitution (CES)-type well-being function and present a new measure to multidimensional polarization, the mean minimum polarization gap, 2DGAP. This polarization intensity measure provides transparency with regard to each single attribute, which is important for targeted policies, while at the same time respecting their interdependent relations. Second, in an empirical application, time is incorporated, in addition to the traditional income measure, as a fundamental resource for any activity. In particular, genuine personal leisure time will account for social participation in the sense of social inclusion/exclusion and Amartya Sen’s capability approach.

Instead of arbitrarily choosing the attribute parameters in the CES well-being function, the interdependent relations of time and income are evaluated by the German population. With the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and detailed time use diary data from the German Time Use Surveys (GTUSs) 1991/1992 and 2001/2002, we quantify available and extended multidimensional polarization measures as well as our new approach to measuring the polarization of the working poor and affluent in Germany.

There are three prominent empirical results: Genuine personal leisure time in addition to income is an important and significant polarization attribute. Compensation is of economic and statistical significance. The new minimum 2DGAP approach reveals that multidimensional polarization increased in the 1990s in Germany.

The aim of the study is to build and validate a perceived financial well-being scale (PFWBS).

A total of 34 items were developed on a five-point Likert scale. Validation involved two phases and four steps. In the qualitative phase, interviews, validation by specialists and the pre-test were carried out. In the quantitative phase, a sample of 1,020 cases was used in the exploratory stage and another sample of 2,293 individuals in the confirmatory validation stage.

The PFWBS is composed of 23 items distributed in four dimensions (financial security, financial tranquility, financial freedom and satisfaction with financial management) that identify the perception of financial well-being of the consumers of financial products.

The authors propose a methodological framework that allows researchers, managers and policy makers to use the indicator to assess citizens' perception of financial well-being.

The PFWBS can be useful in evaluating the results of different public policies, such as income transfer programs and financial education policies. It can also serve as a parameter for the financial system to assess the perception of its customers, helping to evaluate products and services.

Financial well-being lacks valid measurement scales in the literature. This study advances by creating a scale for the assessment of the perception of financial well-being, which can be applied in different contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants of life satisfaction in Turkey. Moreover, this study explores the effects of air pollution and crime problems on well-being.

The estimates are based on cross-sectional data from the health survey in Turkey during the years 2010 and 2012. Various econometric models are applied such as the ordered logit and the random-effects generalized latent class ordered logit. Moreover, using pseudo panel data created based on age and region cohorts adapted probit fixed effects and the “blow-up and cluster” estimators are applied. In addition, various estimates by sex, age group, urban and rural areas as well as between individuals with good and poor health status are followed.

The results show that the individuals who self-reported who are exposed to air pollution and crimes present on average 0.2-0.5 less satisfaction scores than those who are not exposed to air pollution and crimes. In terms of monetary values, they are willing to pay more than those who are not exposed to air pollution and crimes by 13-19 Turkish Liras per month. Moreover, the generalized latent class ordered logit shows that there is considerable heterogeneity among the most satisfied and least satisfied individuals.

The originality of the paper lies in the fact that this is the first study to provide an analysis of life satisfaction using micro-level data from Turkey. Moreover, various econometric approaches are applied to compare the results. In addition, examining the heterogeneous effects among individuals with different life satisfaction rankings, it is possible to examine the effects of various factors on well-being and how they differ among individuals. Finally, by examining exposure to air pollution and crimes in the neighbourhood and their effects on well-being, it is possible to control for characteristics of the deprived areas.

Economic choice theory is built on utilitarian foundations. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether a foundation of virtue ethics might be more consistent with human nature.

The paper focuses on utilitarianism vs virtue ethics as foundations of economic choice theory.

Economic choice theory describes consumer choice in terms that are inconsistent with findings from recent research in behavioral economics, neuroeconomics, and psychology. The consumers' dynamic optimization problem, as outlined by traditional theory, is unsolvable in the sense that it contains too many unknowns. This means that the consumer must approach the problem in a different manner than is usually suggested by the literature. Moreover, new psychological theories of well‐being suggest that we can, to some extent, choose what we want to want and that true happiness is based on our character as much as it is based on our consumption of goods.

The idea that human choices may not be based on consistent preferences calls into question the policy suggestions of the literature on revealed preference and welfare economics. In particular, we cannot rely on past choices to draw inferences on people's preferences.

To maximize social welfare, society must value and promote the development of virtue and character.

The paper highlights some of the differences between utilitarian and the virtue ethics perspectives on choice.

This paper aims to assess what happens to a willingness to take entrepreneurial action when people experience low or high subjective well-being (SWB) in 12 emerging economies.

The research uses principal component analysis (PCA) and logistic regressions with a data sample from the global entrepreneurship monitor (GEM) for emerging economies.

The main results suggest that SWB, measured as satisfaction with life (SWL) and job satisfaction (JOBS), increases the probability of a person becoming an entrepreneur.

The findings of this research suggest that designing and implementing public policies that seek to promote the well-being of individuals might foster their entrepreneurial activities in emerging economies.

The literature on entrepreneurship, which assesses its relationship with SWB is still scarce. Most of the academic work has been carried out for developed countries, mainly analysing how entrepreneurial activity affects SWB in self-employees or entrepreneurs. This manuscript analyses these elements in the opposite direction, contributing to an underdeveloped discussion on how well-being affects the decision to be an entrepreneur.

This paper examines how the degree of happiness affects corporate risk-taking and the moderating influence of family ownership of firms on this relationship.

The authors use an international sample of 17,654 firm-year observations from 24 countries around the world from 2008 to 2016.

Using the happiness index from the World Happiness Report developed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the authors show that a country's overall happiness is negatively correlated with risk-taking behavior by firms. The findings are robust to an alternative measure of risk-taking by firms. Further analyses document that the negative influence of happiness on firm risk-taking is more pronounced for family-owned firms.

The paper is consistent with the notion that happier people are likely to be more risk-averse in making financial decisions, which, in turn, reduces corporate risk-taking.

This study contributes to the broad literature on the determinants of corporate risk-taking and the growing literature on the role of sentiment on investment decisions. The authors contribute to the current debate about family-owned firms by demonstrating that the presence of family trust strengthens the negative influence of happiness on corporate risk-taking, a topic that has been unexplored in previous studies.

This paper aims to introduce and apply an assessment method designed to measure city satisfaction in relation to the subjective perception of individual well-being.

A structural model of residential satisfaction assessment is developed. To test the model, the authors have carried out an empirical research study, using a representative sample (1,636 respondents) of the residents of Perm, a large Russian city.

This study demonstrates both the direct and indirect influence of satisfaction with urban services, respondents’ individual characteristics, life satisfaction and happiness on overall city satisfaction. Moreover, this study attempts to explore the causality between subjective well-being and city satisfaction.

The empirical research is limited to the one-city case.

This study aimed to provide local policy makers with a more refined tool for decision-making in urban policy, which could be of great importance as far as the city authorities need to set up priorities in urban management, especially under the pressure of limited budgets.

The results allow for the illustration of the cumulative and hierarchical nature of city satisfaction and highlight the relation of various life and urban domains and their influence on happiness, life satisfaction and city satisfaction.

This study aims to analyze the well-being experience of home care workers regardless of the service management model. It also aims to analyze their emotional experiences of their activity and working conditions.

This study, using a mixed qualitative and quantitative analysis, allows a combined analysis for a better understanding of the well-being experience of home care workers.

Home care workers experience intrinsic job satisfaction and demonstrate this with positive emotions regardless of their work situation.

Caring for the carer should be a business value. Measures oriented toward workers’ comfort generate greater happiness and commitment, which is automatically transferred to the quality of the care provided and reduces the psychosocial risks of their professional activity.

Visualizing the social reality of an essential profession through research generates verifiable evidence that will help to improve the working conditions of home care workers in Spain.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this pioneering study in Spain introduces a greater understanding of how home care workers in Spain experience their work reality.