This website uses cookies.

By clicking the "Accept" button or continuing to browse our site, you agree to first-party and session-only cookies being stored on your device to enhance site navigation and analyze site performance and traffic. For more information on our use of cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

  1. Home
  2. Journals
  3. American Economic Review
  4. November 2014
  5. Can Marginal Rates of Substitution Be Inferred from Happiness Data? Evidence from Residency Choices

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

Download Full Text PDF

Abstract

We survey 561 students from U.S. medical schools shortly after they submit choice rankings over residencies to the National Resident Matching Program. We elicit (a) these choice rankings, (b) anticipated subjective well-being (SWB) rankings, and (c) expected features of the residencies (such as prestige). We find substantial differences between choice and anticipated-SWB rankings in the implied tradeoffs between residency features. In our data, evaluative SWB measures (life satisfaction and Cantril's ladder) imply tradeoffs closer to choice than does affective happiness (even time-integrated), and as close as do multi-measure SWB indices. We discuss implications for using SWB data in applied work.

Citation

Benjamin, Daniel J., Ori Heffetz, Miles S. Kimball, and Alex Rees-Jones. 2014. "Can Marginal Rates of Substitution Be Inferred from Happiness Data? Evidence from Residency Choices." American Economic Review, 104 (11): 3498-3528. DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.11.3498

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
  • I31 General Welfare; Well-Being