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4
and life satisfaction are in section 1.6. Health satisfaction declined in East Germany
relative to West Germany for the younger age group because of differences in health. I
provide evidence that stress had a direct and indirect effect on health satisfaction and that
improvements in income protected the younger age group against some of the stress
related to the transition. If the young East Germans had the same trend in health as the
older East Germans, then their health satisfaction would have been an average of 0.20
units higher than it was in 1999 and their life satisfaction would have improved by 0.08
units, ceteris paribus. If the young East Germans had the same trend in health as the
young West Germans, then their health satisfaction would have been an average of 0.25
units higher than it was in 1999 and their life satisfaction would have improved by 0.10
units. Allowing for the econometric issues discussed above does have an effect on the
estimated coefficients. The qualitative interpretations, however, are similar across
specifications. Section 1.7 contains a discussion of the robustness of my results, followed
by the conclusion in section 1.8.
1.2 BACKGROUND
Mean health satisfaction declined for both East and West Germany, but it declined more
for East Germany (see Figure 1.1). There is a statistically significant 0.36 unit decline in
health satisfaction in East Germany between 1990 and 1999. The health satisfaction
question in this study is:
“How satisfied are you with the following aspects of your life? Please give a
rating on the scale for each aspect: If you are completely dissatisfied, mark '0,' if
you are completely satisfied, mark '10.' If your feelings are mixed, give a rating
somewhere in between. How satisfied are you with your health?”
4
Object Description
| Title | Essays on health and well-being |
| Author | Zweig, Jacqueline Smith |
| Author email | smith2@usc.edu; jackiesmith04@yahoo.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Economics |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-03-23 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Restricted until 26 Apr. 2012. |
| Date published | 2012-04-26 |
| Advisor (committee chair) |
Easterlin, Richard A. Ham, John C. |
| Advisor (committee member) | Melguizo, Tatiana |
| Abstract | This dissertation is comprised of three chapters that use microeconometric techniques to investigate the factors that affect people’s well-being. In the first two chapters, well-being is defined as life satisfaction or health satisfaction. The first chapter explores how the movement from socialism to capitalism affected the life satisfaction and health satisfaction of East Germans relative to West Germans after reunification. The second chapter examines whether women are happier, less happy, or equally happy as men in countries at various stages of development. The third chapter examines whether pollution affects the academic performance of school children; their academic performance and achievements will have important implications for their future well-being. |
| Keyword | happiness; well-being |
| Geographic subject | Germany |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Coverage date | 1990/2010; 2002/2008 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3782 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Zweig, Jacqueline Smith |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Zweig-4500 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume23/etd-Zweig-4500.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 13 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 4 and life satisfaction are in section 1.6. Health satisfaction declined in East Germany relative to West Germany for the younger age group because of differences in health. I provide evidence that stress had a direct and indirect effect on health satisfaction and that improvements in income protected the younger age group against some of the stress related to the transition. If the young East Germans had the same trend in health as the older East Germans, then their health satisfaction would have been an average of 0.20 units higher than it was in 1999 and their life satisfaction would have improved by 0.08 units, ceteris paribus. If the young East Germans had the same trend in health as the young West Germans, then their health satisfaction would have been an average of 0.25 units higher than it was in 1999 and their life satisfaction would have improved by 0.10 units. Allowing for the econometric issues discussed above does have an effect on the estimated coefficients. The qualitative interpretations, however, are similar across specifications. Section 1.7 contains a discussion of the robustness of my results, followed by the conclusion in section 1.8. 1.2 BACKGROUND Mean health satisfaction declined for both East and West Germany, but it declined more for East Germany (see Figure 1.1). There is a statistically significant 0.36 unit decline in health satisfaction in East Germany between 1990 and 1999. The health satisfaction question in this study is: “How satisfied are you with the following aspects of your life? Please give a rating on the scale for each aspect: If you are completely dissatisfied, mark '0,' if you are completely satisfied, mark '10.' If your feelings are mixed, give a rating somewhere in between. How satisfied are you with your health?” 4 |
