Publications

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, forthcoming

"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, forthcoming

"Locus of control and its intergenerational implications for early childhood skill formation", with Warn N. Lekfuangfu, Nele Warrinnier, and Francesca Cornaglia, Economic Journal, forthcoming

"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.

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