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Correlational findings

Study O'Connor (2020): study DE 1996

Public
Working aged, Germany, followed 17 years, 1996-2013
Survey name
DE-SOEP combined waves
Sample
Respondents
N = 233574
Non Response
Assessment
Interview: face-to-face
Interview based on a set of pretested questionnaires

Correlate

Authors's Label
Unemployment status
Our Classification
Related specification variables
Operationalization
1 : Unemployed
0 : Employed

Observed Relation with Happiness

Happiness Measure Statistics Elaboration / Remarks O-SLW-c-sq-n-11-d Beta = -.03 p < .01 EARLIER happiness by unemployment 1 year LATER

Beta controlled for:
- age
- month of interview
- lagged education
- lagged potential experience and its square

Smaller when additionally controled for:
- job expectations
- industry & occupatiion
- job satisfaction decline
O-SLW-c-sq-n-11-d DOLS = -.01 p < .01 DOLS (-.008) controlled for:
- gender
- age
- month of interview
- lagged education
- lagged potential experience and its square

DOLS = -0.005 when additionally controlled for:
- log of adjusted family income
- self-reported health
- marital status
- parental status
- presence of a young child
- household unemployment
- poor health

Stronger among:
- Initially unemployed and students
- East Germans
Smaller among
- high incomes;
Similar across:
- genders
- social capital
Inconsistent across
- age groups
Reversed among
- very happy, more likely to remain unemployed

The relation is not driven by measurement error or omitted variables related to satisfaction-type questions.
O-SLW-c-sq-n-11-d b-fix = -.01 p < .01 CHANGE happiness by CHANGE employment

b-fix (-.01) controlled for:
- age
- month of interview
- lagged education
- lagged potential experience and its square

b-fix = +0.008 when additionally controlled for:
- log of adjusted family income
- self-reported health
- marital status
- parental status
- presence of a young child
- household unemployment
- poor health

Stronger among:
- Initially unemployed and students
- East Germans
Smaller among
- high incomes;
Similar across:
- gender
- social capital
Inconsistent across
- age groups
Reversed among
- very happy, more likely to remain unemployed