print

Studies

Easterlin & Plagnol (2008): study DE East Germany 1991

Publication

Author(s):
Easterlin, R.A.; Plagnol, A.C.
Title:
Life satisfaction and economic conditions in East and West Germany pre- and post-unification.
Source:
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 68, 433-444.

Investigation

Public
16+ aged, general public, East Germany, followed 1- 14 years, Germany, 1991-2004
Survey name
DE-SOEP
Sample
Probability stratified sample
Respondents
N = 48688
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
Page in publication:
433, 40 (appendix)
Observed distribution
Summary Statistics
On original range 0 - 10 On range 0-10
Mean:
6.32 6.32
SD:
1.84 1.84

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding Unemployment rate East-Germany Unemployment in nation Household income Household income Relative income Relative income Satisfaction with income Satisfaction with income Inflation rate Inflation in nation Trend in era Trend average happiness in era Being unemployed Unemployed involuntary