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Article Review of Economics and Statistics The Asymmetric Experience of Positive and Negative Economic Growth: Global Evidence Using Subjective Well-being Data |
Are individuals more sensitive to losses than gains in terms of economic growth? We find that measures of subjective well-being are more than twice as sensitive to negative as compared to positive economic growth. We use Gallup World Poll data from over 150 countries, U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data on 2.3 million U.S. 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 policy and the nature of the long-run relationship between GDP and subjective well-being.
Keywords: Economic Growth; Business Cycles; Welfare or Wellbeing; Perception; Global Range;
De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel, George Ward, Femke De Keulenaer, Bert Van Landeghem, Georgios Kavetsos, and Michael I. Norton. "The Asymmetric Experience of Positive and Negative Economic Growth: Global Evidence Using Subjective Well-being Data." Review of Economics and Statistics 100, no. 2 (May 2018): 362–375.
