How Reliable and Consistent areSubjective Measures of Welfare in Europe and Central Asia?Evidence from the Second Life in Transition Survey

Cojocaru, Alexandru ; Diagne, Mame Fatou

关键词: AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS;    ASSET OWNERSHIP;    ASSETS;    BANK ACCOUNT;    BIASES;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-6359
RP-ID  :  WPS6359

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper analyzes the reliability andconsistency of subjective well-being measures. Using theLife in Transition Survey, which was administered in 34countries of Europe and Central Asia in 2006 and 2010, thepaper evaluates subjective well-being measures (satisfactionwith life and subjective relative income position) againstobjective measures of welfare based on consumption andassets. It uses the different formulations of lifesatisfaction in the survey to test robustness to alternativeframing and scaling. It also explores within-householddifferences in subjective well-being assessments. Theanalysis finds that subjective relative income is weaklycorrelated with household relative welfare position asmeasured by consumption or assets. Life satisfaction, bycontrast, is highly correlated with objective and subjectivemeasures of household welfare. It generally reflectscross-country differences in average consumption, assets, orper capita gross domestic product, although Central Asiancountries report much higher life satisfaction levels thantheir incomes would suggest. Two alternative measures oflife satisfaction are highly correlated and thecorrespondence between verbal and numeric scales is strongwithin a country or groupings of similar countries. Withinhouseholds, subjective assessments of relative income areroughly consistent but measurement error is correlated withindividual characteristics (gender and age of respondents),which could cause systematic biases in the analysis.