Publications

2021

"The Effects of Retirement on Sense of Purpose in Life: Crisis or Opportunity?', with Ayse Yemiscigil and Ashley Whillans, Psychological Science, forthcoming.

"Are newly self-employed overly optimistic about their future well-being?', with Reto Odermatt and Alois Stutzer, Journal of Behavioural and Experimental Economics, forthcoming.

"Do perceptions of economic well-being predict the onset of war and peace?', with Eik Swee and Haikun Zhan, Journal of Behavioural and Experimental Economics, 95, 101765.

"When face masks signal social identity: Explaining the deep face-mask divide duing the COVID-19 pandemic", with Yohanes E. Riyanto, Erwin C.L. Wong, Jonathan X.W. Yeo, and Qi Yu Chan, Plos One, 16(6), e0253195.

'The Importance of Capital in Closing the Entrepreneurial Gender Gap: A Longitudinal Study of Lottery Wins", with Sarah Fleche and Anthony Lepinteur, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, forthcoming.

'Risk compensation during COVID-19: The impact of face mask usage on social distancing", with Ashley Luckman, Hossam Zeitoun, Andrea Isoni, Graham Loomes, Ivo Vlaev, and Daniel Read, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, forthcoming.

'COVID-19, Lockdowns and Well-Being: Evidence from Google Trends", with Abel Brodeur, Andrew E. Clark, and Sarah Fleche, Journal of Public Economics, 193, 104346.

"Education and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours: a nonparametric regression discontinuity analysis of a major schooling reform in England and Wales', Ecological Economics, 181, 106931.

2020

"Does It Pay to Bet on Your Favourite to Win? Evidence on Experienced Utility from the 2018 FIFA World Cup Experiment", with Lajos Kossuth, Donna Harris, and Nick Chater, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 171, 35-58. 

"Gender norms, fairness and relative working hours within households", with Sarah Fleche and Anthony Lepinteur, Labour Economics, 65, 101866.

"Is There a Link Between Air Pollution and Impaired Memory? Evidence on 34,000 English Citizens", with Andrew Oswald, Ecological Economics, 169, 106485.

"Buying Happiness in an Unequal World: Rank of Income More Strongly Predict Well-being in More Unequal Countries", with Lucia Machia and Anke Plagnol, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 46(5), 769-780. 

2019

"Why Do People Tolerate Income Inequality?", with Lucia Macchia and Anke Plagnol, Harvard Business Review, Digital Article 

“Who Got the Brexit Blues? The Effect of Brexit on Subjective Wellbeing in the UK", with Anke Plagnol, Paul Frijters, and Andrew E. Clark Economica, 86(343), 471-494.

2018

“Lower-Rated Publications Do Lower Academics’ Judgments of Publication Lists: Evidence from a Survey Experiment of Economists", with Yohanes E. Riyanto and Jack L. Knetsch, Journal of Economic Psychology, 66, 33-44.

"Gender norm and relative working hours: Why do women suffer more than men from working longer hours than their partner?", with Sarah Fleche and Anthony Lepinteur, AEA Papers & Proceedings, 108, 163-168.

"Do you have to win it to fix it? A longitudinal study of lottery winners and their health care demand", with Terence C. Cheng and Joan Costa-i-Font, American Journal of Health Economics, 4(1), 26-50.

"The welfare implications of addictive substances: A longitudinal study of life satisfaction of drug users", with Julie Moschion, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 146, 206-221.

"Locus of control and its intergenerational implications for early childhood skill formation", with Warn N. Lekfuangfu, Nele Warrinnier, and Francesca Cornaglia, Economic Journal, 128(608), 298-329.

2017

"Top incomes and human well-being: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll", with Richard V. Burkhauser and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Journal of Economic Psychology, 62, 246-257.

"Longitudinal evidence for a midlife nadir in human well-being: results from four data sets", with Terence C. Cheng and Andrew J. Oswald, Economic Journal, 127(599), 126-142.

2016

"Can having internal locus of control insure against negative shocks? Psychological evidence from panel data", with Hielke Buddelmeyer, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 122, 88-109.

"Income inequality makes whole countries less happy", with Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Harvard Business Review, Digital Article.

2015

"Can priming cooperation increase public good contributions?", with Michalis Drouvelis and Robert Metcalfe, Theory and Decision, 79, 479-492.

"Are happier people less judgmental of other people's selfish behaviours? Experimental survey evidence from trust and gift exchange games", with Michalis Drouvelis, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 58, 111-123.

"Life satisfaction and sexual minorities: Evidence from Australia and the United Kingdom", with Mark Wooden, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 116, 107-126.

"Would you pay for transparently useless advice? A test of boundaries of beliefs in the folly of predictions", with Yohanes Eko Riyanto, Review of Economics and Statistics, 97(2), 257-272.

"What's the good of education on our overall quality of life? A simultaneous equation model of education and life satisfaction for Australia", with Warn N. Lekfuangfu and Mark Wooden, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 54, 10-21.

"Trust and happiness: comparative study before and after the Great East Japan Earthquake", with Eiji Yamamura, Yoshiro Tsutsui, Chisako Yamane, and Shoko Yamane, Social Indicators Research, 123(3), 919-935.

"Does more education lead to better health habits? Evidence from the school reforms in Australia", with Jinhu Li, Social Science and Medicine, 127, 83-91.

"Would You Like to Know What Makes People Happy? An Overview of the Data Sets on Subjective Well-Being", Australian Economic Review, .48(3), 314-320.

2014

"What childhood characteristics predict psychological resilience to economic shocks in adulthood?", Journal of Economic Psychology, 45, 84-101.

"What predicts a successful life? A life-course model of well-being", with Richard Layard, Andrew E. Clark, Francesca Cornaglia, and James Vernoit, Economic Journal, 124(580), F720-F738.

"Economic approaches to understanding change in happiness", with Alois Stutzer, in M. Sheldon and Richard E. Lucas (eds.), Stability of Happiness. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 

"Do Different Work Characteristics Have Different Distributional Impacts on Job Satisfaction? A Study of Slope Heterogeneity in Workers’ Well-Being", with Aekapol Chongvilaivan, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 52(3), 426-444.

2013

"Parental Unemployment and Children's Happiness: A Longitudinal Study of Young People's Well-Being in Unemployed Households", with James Vernoit, Labour Economics, 24, 253-263.

"Is Personality Fixed? Personality Changes as Much as “Variable” Economic Factors and More Strongly Predicts Changes to Life Satisfaction", with Christopher Boyce and Alex Wood, Social Indicators Research, 111(1), 287-305.

2012

"Jobless, Friendless, and Broke: What Happens to Different Areas of Life Before and After Unemployment?", Economica, 79(315), 557-575.

"Thinking About It: A Note on Attention and Well-Being Losses from Unemployment", with Paul Dolan, Applied Economics Letters, 19(4), 325-328.

2011

"Putting Different Price Tags on the Same Health Condition: Re-evaluating the Well-Being Valuation Approach", with Bernard van den Berg, Journal of Health Economics, 30(5), 1032-1043

"Destruction and Distress: Using a Quasi-Experiment to Show the Effects of the September 11 Attacks on Subjective Well-Being in the UK", with Robert Metcalfe and Paul Dolan, Economic Journal, 121(550), F81-F103.

"Anticipation, Free-Rider Problem, and Adaptation to Trade Union: Re-examining the Curious Case of Dissatisfied Union Members", Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 64(5), 1000-1019.

2010

"Does Education Reduce the Risk of Hypertension? Estimating the Biomarker Effect of Compulsory Schooling in England", Journal of Human Capital, 4(2), 173-202.

"How Much Does Money Really Matter? Estimating the Causal Effects of Income on Happiness", Empirical Economics, 39(1), 77-92.

"Daughters and Leftwing Voting" with Andrew Oswald, Review of Economics and Statistics, 92(2), 213-227

2009

"How Important is Rank to Individual Perception of Economic Standing? A Within-Community Analysis", Journal of Economic Inequality, 7(3), 225-248.

"I Can't Smile Without You: Spousal Correlation in Life Satisfaction", Journal of Economic Psychology, 30(4), 675-689.

"The Socio-economic Gap in University Drop Out", with Anna Vignoles, B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, Vol. 9: Iss. 1 (Topics), Article 19.

"What Happens to People Before and After Disability? Focusing Effects, Lead Effects, and Adaptation in Different Areas of Life", Social Science and Medicine, 69, 1834-1844.

"Think having children will make you happy?", The Psychologist, 22(4), 308-311.

"Ill-Health as a Household Norm: Evidence from Other People's Health Problems", Social Science and Medicine, 68, 251-259.

2008

"Does Happiness Adapt? A Longitudinal Study of Disability with Implications for Economists and Judges", with Andrew Oswald, Journal of Public Economics, 92, 1061-1077.

"Putting a Price Tag on Friends, Relatives, and Neighbours: Using Surveys of Life-Satisfaction to Value Social Relationships", Journal of Socio-Economics, 37(4), 1459-1480. 

"Death, Happiness, and the Calculation of Compensatory Damages", with Andrew Oswald, Journal of Legal Studies, 37(S2), June, S217-S252. 

"Mental Health of Parents and Life Satisfaction of Children: A Within-Family Analysis of Intergenerational Transmission of Well-Being", with Anna Vignoles, Social Indicators Research, 88(3), 397-422.

2007

"Feeling Richer or Poorer than Others: A Cross-sectional and Panel Analysis of Subjective Economic Status in Indonesia", Asian Economic Journal, 21(2), 169-194

"Obesity, Unhappiness, and The Challenge of Affluence: Theory and Evidence", with Andrew Oswald, Economic Journal, 117 (June), F441-454

"Are There Geographical Variations in the Psychological Costs of Unemployment in South Africa?", Social Indicators Research, 80(3), 629-652.

2005

"Unhappiness and Crime: Evidence from South Africa", Economica , 72, 531-547