@article{eprints3885,
          author = {Stefano Bartolini and Ennio Bilancini},
          volume = {57},
            year = {2010},
         journal = {International Review of Economics},
           title = {If not only GDP, what else? Using relational goods to predict the trends of subjective well-being},
           pages = {199--213},
       publisher = {Springer},
          number = {2},
        abstract = {In the last decade, a lively interdisciplinary discussion has grown around the evidence that, in the long-run, people?s subjective well-being is not significantly correlated with income growth. In other words, GDP growth does not predict the long run growth of subjective well-being. In this paper, we argue that there exists a different predictor of subjective well-being that works pretty well: sociability, i.e. the quality and quantity of social relationships (also referred to as relational goods). More precisely, we illustrate the role of sociability as a predictor of well-being, presenting the available evidence at both the within-country and the worldwide level. In particular, we discuss recent evidence from US cross-sectional data (General Social Survey, 1975?2004), cross-country time series (World Value Survey 1980?2005), and German panel data (German Socio-Economic Panel, 1996?2007). We conclude by indicating the most relevant open issues and suggesting future lines of research.},
        keywords = {Happiness; Social capital; Economic growth; Relational goods; Intrinsic motivations; Subjective well-being; Easterlin paradox; Life satisfaction; Sociability},
             url = {http://eprints.imtlucca.it/3885/}
}