Individual experience of positive and negative growth is asymmetric
Subtitle: global evidence from subjective well-being data
By: Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, George W. Ward, Famke De Keulenaer, Bert Van Landeghem, Georgios Kavetsos, , Michael I. Norton
Contributors: Ward, George W., author; De Keulenaer, Famke, author; Van Landeghem, Bert, author; Kavetsos, Georgios, author; Norton, Michael I., author; Harvard Business School
Series: Working paper / Harvard Business School -- 15-021; Working paper (Harvard Business School) -- 15-021.
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Boston]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 34
Description: Are individuals more sensitive to losses than gains in macroeconomic growth? Using subjective well-being measures across three large data sets, we observe an asymmetry in the way positive and negative economic growth are experienced, with losses having more than twice as much impact on individual happiness as compared to equivalent gains. We use Gallup World Poll data drawn from 151 countries, BRFSS data taken from a representative sample of 2.5 million US respondents, and Eurobarometer data that cover multiple business cycles over four decades. This research provides a new perspective on the welfare cost of business cycles with implications for growth pol- icy and our understanding of the long-run relationship between GDP and subjective well-being.
Notes: "October 2014" -- Publisher's website.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 25-30).