The Happiness of Economists: Estimating the Causal Effect of Studying Economics on Subjective Well-Being

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. The working papers published in the Series constitute work in progress circulated to stimulate discussion and critical comments. Views expressed represent exclusively the authors' own opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of the editor. Abstract This is the …rst paper that studies the causal e¤ect of studying economics on subjective well being. Based on a survey among 918 students of economics and other social sciences, we estimate the effects of studying in the di¤erent …elds on individual life satisfaction. Controling for personal characteristics we apply innovative instrumental variable methods developed in labor and con ‡ict economics. We …nd a positive relationship between the study of economics and individual well-being. Additionally, we also …nd that income and future job chances are the most important drivers of happiness for participants of our survey. Terms of use: Documents inJEL-Classi…cation: A11, A13, I21, I31.

Zukunftsangst! Fear of (and Hope for) the Future and its Impact on Life Satisfaction.

“…Some recent examples follow. Haucap and Heimeshoff (2014) investigate the causal effect of studying economics on well-being and find that perceived good future job prospects (which they suggest could also be a proxy for future income) are positively associated with student life satisfaction scores. Similarly Hetschko et al (2014), using the SOEP, investigate, in part, the possibility that more uncertain future income and employment prospects can impact current wellbeing.…”

Social psychological aspects of “making” economists: A review of the nature versus nurture debate

“…Economics students seem to possess a stronger propensity to think in terms of economic rationality before making their educational choice (Tang and Robinson, 2009), but this is not necessarily related to “selfish” patterns of social behavior. Economics students choose their field because of the career advantages and kudos it offers (Haucap and Heimeshoff, 2014; Webber and Mearman, 2012) and/or because of an interest in social and economic issues. According to Schweitzer-Krah and Engartner (2019), the shares of students whose future career plans are characterized by an interest in individual status and material advancement or by altruistic motives are equally large.…”