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Studies

Luechinger et al. (2008): study XZ Germany West 1984

Publication

Author(s):
Luechinger, S.; Meier, G.; Stutzer, A.
Title:
Why does Unemployment Hurt the Unemployed? Evidence from the Life Satisfaction Gap between the Public and Privat Sector.
Source:
WWZ Working Paper 03/008, Center of Business and Economics (WWZ), 2008, University of Basel, Switzerland

Investigation

Public
Employees, private and public sector. West-Germany, 1984-2004.
Sample
Probability stratified sample
Respondents
N = 20764
Non Response
Assessment
Interview: face-to-face

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on single question:

Taking all things together, how satisfied are you with your life these days? Please answer with the help of this scale. For instance, when you are totally satisfied with your life, please tick '10'. When you are totally unsatisfied with your life, please tick '0'. You may use all values in between to indicate that you are neither totally satisfied nor totally unsatisfied."
10 totally satisfied
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0  totally unsatisfied
Classification:
O-SLW-c-sq-n-11-d
Author's label:
life-satisfaction
Remarks:
Analysis based on 3-step reduced scale: 1.low scores (0, 1, 2, or 3) 1,2% ;
2. middle scores (8, 9 or 10)  52,4%;        3. high scores (10) 6,5%.
Page in publication:
10
Observed distribution
Summary Statistics
On original range 0 - 10 On range 0-10
Mean:
7.30 7.30
SD:
1.65 -

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding Changes in regional unemployment Unemployment in region
Trend average happiness in employment categories
Public sector (vs private sector) Current employment arrangement
Public employment (vs private sector)
Tenure (vs flex contracts)