On the Causal Impact of Relational Goods on Happiness

Becchetti, Leonardo; Giachin Ricca, Elena; Pelloni, Alessandra

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1518406

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On the Causal Impact of Relational Goods on Happiness

CEIS Working Paper No. 151

33 Pages Posted: 7 Dec 2009

See all articles by Leonardo Becchetti

Leonardo Becchetti

University of Rome Tor Vergata - Faculty of Economics

Alessandra Pelloni

University of Rome II, Department of Economics

Date Written: December 4, 2009

Abstract

We study the effect of relational goods on life satisfaction. We consider that retirement is an event after which the time investable in personal relationships increases so we instrument social life, which we suspect of being endogenous, with the sample proportion of retired by year. With such approach we document that relational goods have a positive and significant effect on life satisfaction.

Keywords: life satisfaction, relational goods, social capital

JEL Classification: I30, D61 A11, A13

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Becchetti, Leonardo and Giachin Ricca, Elena and Pelloni, Alessandra, On the Causal Impact of Relational Goods on Happiness (December 4, 2009). CEIS Working Paper No. 151, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1518406 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1518406