Replication data for: Beyond Happiness and Satisfaction: Toward Well-Being Indices Based on Stated Preference

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Daniel J. Benjamin; Ori Heffetz; Miles S. Kimball; Nichole Szembrot

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
dataAER-2012-1159			10/11/2019 10:48:PM
LICENSE.txt	text/plain	14.6 KB	10/11/2019 06:49:PM

Project Citation:

Benjamin, Daniel J., Heffetz, Ori, Kimball, Miles S., and Szembrot, Nichole. Replication data for: Beyond Happiness and Satisfaction: Toward Well-Being Indices Based on Stated Preference. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2014. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-11. https://doi.org/10.3886/E112852V1

Project Description

Summary: This paper proposes foundations and a methodology for survey-based tracking of well-being. First, we develop a theory in which utility depends on "fundamental aspects" of well-being, measurable with surveys. Second, drawing from psychologists, philosophers, and economists, we compile a comprehensive list of such aspects. Third, we demonstrate our proposed method for estimating the aspects' relative marginal utilities—a necessary input for constructing an individual-level well-being index—by asking ~4,600 U.S. survey respondents to state their preference between pairs of aspect bundles. We estimate high relative marginal utilities for aspects related to family, health, security, values, freedom, happiness, and life satisfaction.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      C43 Index Numbers and Aggregation; Leading indicators
      C83 Survey Methods; Sampling Methods
      D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
      I31 General Welfare; Well-Being

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Published Versions

V1 [2019-10-11]

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