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“Happiness and Its Cost” by the University of Melbourne

Join this colloquium by the University of Melbourne on Monday, 6 September 2021 at 11.00 AM AEST / 08.00 AM WIB, which will feature three presentations, including:

- The increasing cost of happiness in Australia 2001-2019

A fundamental question for society is how much happiness does a dollar buy? The accepted view among economists and psychologists is that money and happiness increase together up to a point, after which there is little further gain from increasing income. In this paper we estimate the relationship between income and subjective wellbeing over a 19-year period focusing on whether this change point has shifted over time, and explore its implications for inequalities in wellbeing.

- Heterogeneity in the subjective wellbeing impact of access to green space

There is a growing body of literature on the impact of urban green space (UGS) on residents’ subjective wellbeing (SWB). However, current studies on the UGS association with SWB are not operational and specific enough to guide urban planning decisions. Drawing on individual data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey over 2001-17 in Melbourne, this paper estimates a set of hedonic models of SWB to explain the heterogeneity in SWB impacts of UGS.

- Loss aversion, permanent income and subjective wellbeing

This presentation offers a unique insight into our understanding of the relationship between loss aversion and subjective wellbeing on a large sample of individuals taken from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The research aims to establish whether income losses have a larger impact on an individual’s life satisfaction (and financial satisfaction) than an equivalent income gain. Where previous studies of this kind generally take an approach to reference-dependence that may not fully encapsulate an individual’s expectations, this research uses the household’s permanent income as a reference point, which is operationalised through various moving averages. Additionally, it considers an alternative reference point based on a Mincer-type earnings equation for the household.

Register for this event here.  


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