文档介绍:华中科技大学
硕士学位论文
绝对收入、相对收入与个人幸福感
姓名:范奇
申请学位级别:硕士
专业:西方经济学
指导教师:彭代彦
20080501
华中科技大学硕士学位论文
摘要
古典经济学理论一般认为收入的增加使消费者到达更高的效用无差异曲线水平,
因而能获得更高的满足程度,更多的收入会带来更大的幸福。而自 Easterlin 以来,
越来越多的实证研究对这个命题提出了挑战。大多数对发达国家和部分发展中国家
的研究都表明,时间序列数据没有显示幸福水准与经济增长或收入水平的长期正相关
关系;横截面数据分析显示收入更高的人平均而言具有更高的幸福水准,但相关性也
不是很强。上述现象即“幸福-收入之谜”,由于 Easterlin 的开创性贡献,又称为
Easterlin 悖论。
现代关于主观幸福感的研究一般认为,收入对个人主观幸福感的影响在统计上
是显著的,但其效应在系数上较小。本文则进一步将收入划分为绝对收入与相对收
入两类。其中,除了直接进入个人效用函数外,阐述绝对收入对主观幸福感的影响
的理论主要有:消费者行为理论、适应性理论和期望水平理论;阐述相对收入对主
观幸福感影响的理论主要有:范围-频率理论、相对剥夺理论、社会认同理论以及
最优区分理论。
本文通过对 WVS 数据的实证研究表明,绝对收入与相对收入均会影响个人的主
观幸福感,但后者对我国居民的影响程度更大。最后,针对该研究结果讨论了在我
国进行幸福感研究的重要性,并提出相关的政策建议。
关键词:绝对收入相对收入主观幸福感社会比较理论
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华中科技大学硕士学位论文
Abstract
Classical economic theory generally believes that increasing in e level could
enable consumer to reach a higher level of utility curve, and a higher degree of satisfaction,
thus more e will lead to greater happiness. Since Easterlin, an increasing number of
empirical researches on this topic presented a challenge for this prevailed theory. Studies
have shown the lack of a long-term positive correlation between subjective well-being
(SWB) and economic growth or e level in most developed countries and some
developing countries from time-series data. Cross-sectional data analysis showed that
higher e people have higher average happiness, but the correlation is not very strong.
This phenomenon is called as the "happiness-e” myth, also known as the Easterlin
Paradox, in memory of the pioneering contribution of Easterlin.
Modern researches on subjective well-being general believe that the impact of
e on subjective well-being is statistically significant, but with a rather small
coefficient. This paper will further divide e into absolute e and relative
e terms. Beside directly entry into an individual’s utility function, theories that
describe the relation between absolute e and subjective well-being are: