Money and Subjective Well-being

This project is being conducted as part of a larger research program titled , The Dynamics of Economic and Social Change: An Analysis of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey.

Its main objective is to use the HILDA Survey data to measure the importance of economic variables in influencing measures of subjective well-being. A key aspect of the research is the focus on the role played by wealth. Previous research has focused largely on income measures which, at best, are only a partial measure of material standards of living.

The project has given rise to the following publications:

• Headey, B. and Wooden, M., The Effects of Wealth and Income on Subjective Well-being and Ill-being, The Economic Record 80, September 2004, Special Issue, pp. S24-S33.
• Headey, B. and Wooden, M., Economic Well-Being and Subjective Well-Being: The Effects of Income and Wealth, in L. Manderson (ed.), Rethinking Well-being: Essays on Health, Disability and Disadvantage, Australian Public Intellectual Network, Curtin University, Perth, forthcoming 2005.
• Headey, Bruce, Muffels, R. and Wooden, M., Money and Happiness: A Reconsideration Based on the Combined Effects of Wealth, Income and Consumption, Journal of Applied Social Science Studies (Schmollers Jahrbuch) 125 (no. 1), forthcoming 2005.

Two working paper have also been produced and can be downloaded from links below.

Working Paper No. 03/2004 The Effects of Wealth and Income on Subjective Well-Being and Ill-Being, by Bruce Headey and Mark Wooden PDF format (153K)

Working Paper No. 15/2004 Money Doesn't Buy Happiness...or Does It? A Reconsideration Based on the Combined Effects of Wealth, Income and Consumption, by Bruce Headey, Ruud Muffels and Mark Wooden PDF format (92K)

The contact for this project is Professor Mark Wooden