Working Paper: NBER ID: w20291
Authors: Edward L. Glaeser; Joshua D. Gottlieb; Oren Ziv
Abstract: There are persistent differences in self-reported subjective well-being across U.S. metropolitan areas, and residents of declining cities appear less happy than other Americans. Newer residents of these cities appear to be as unhappy as longer term residents, and yet some people continue to move to these areas. While the historical data on happiness are limited, the available facts suggest that cities that are now declining were also unhappy in their more prosperous past. One interpretation of these facts is that individuals do not aim to maximize self-reported well-being, or happiness, as measured in surveys, and they willingly endure less happiness in exchange for higher incomes or lower housing costs. In this view, subjective well-being is better viewed as one of many arguments of the utility function, rather than the utility function itself, and individuals make trade-offs among competing objectives, including but not limited to happiness.
Keywords: Subjective Wellbeing; Urban Decline; Spatial Equilibrium; Happiness; Economic Utility
JEL Codes: D00; I00; J00; R00
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| urban decline (R11) | decreased subjective wellbeing (I31) |
| lower levels of happiness in declining cities (R11) | urban decline (R11) |
| low population growth (J11) | decreased subjective wellbeing (I31) |
| urban characteristics (R11) | area-level happiness (I31) |
| historical context of cities (N93) | current subjective wellbeing (I31) |
| higher incomes in the past (N30) | compensation for unhappiness (M52) |
| lower housing costs (R21) | compensation for unhappiness (M52) |