%0 Journal Article
%@ 1865-1704
%A Bartolini, Stefano
%A Bilancini, Ennio
%D 2010
%F eprints:3885
%I Springer
%J International Review of Economics
%K Happiness; Social capital; Economic growth; Relational goods; Intrinsic motivations; Subjective well-being; Easterlin paradox; Life satisfaction; Sociability
%N 2
%P 199-213
%T If not only GDP, what else? Using relational goods to predict the trends of subjective well-being
%U http://eprints.imtlucca.it/3885/
%V 57
%X 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.