Can Marginal Rates of Substitution Be Inferred from Happiness Data? Evidence from Residency Choices

被引:73
作者
Benjamin, Daniel J. [1 ,2 ]
Heffetz, Ori [2 ,3 ]
Kimball, Miles S. [2 ,4 ]
Rees-Jones, Alex [5 ]
机构
[1] Cornell Univ, Dept Econ, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
[2] NBER, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
[3] Cornell Univ, SC Johnson Grad Sch Management, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
[4] Univ Michigan, Dept Econ, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA
[5] Univ Penn, Wharton Sch, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
关键词
INCOME; INCONSISTENCY; SATISFACTION;
D O I
10.1257/aer.104.11.3498
中图分类号
F [经济];
学科分类号
020101 [政治经济学];
摘要
We survey 561 students from US medical schools shortly after they submit choice rankings over residencies to the National Resident Matching Program. We elicit (i) these choice rankings, (ii) anticipated subjective well-being (SWB) rankings, and (iii) expected features of the residencies (such as prestige). We find substantial differences between choice and anticipated-SWB rankings in the implied trade-offs between residency features. In our data, evaluative SWB measures (life satisfaction and Cantril's Ladder) imply trade-offs closer to choice than does affective happiness (even time-integrated), and as close as do multimeasure SWB indices. We discuss implications for using SWB data in applied work.
引用
收藏
页码:3498 / 3528
页数:31
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