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Seoul Journal of Economics
[ Article ]
Seoul Journal of Economics - Vol. 34, No. 4, pp.499-519
ISSN: 1225-0279 (Print)
Print publication date 30 Nov 2021
Received 24 Aug 2020 Revised 19 Nov 2021 Accepted 19 Nov 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22904/sje.2021.34.4.002

Health Perception Impact on Happiness Disparity in Gender

Soohyun Choi
Soohyun Choi, Associate Research Fellow, Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education & Training, 370 Sicheong-daero, Sejong-si, 30147, Korea shch@krivet.re.kr

JEL Classification: I14, I31, J16

Abstract

This paper attempts to explain the happiness gap between men and women using health perception difference. Results show that health perception disparity can be a determinant factor of happiness disparity. The study uses body mass index (BMI) as an instrumental variable (IV) to eliminate the reverse causality problem caused by a strong correlation between self-evaluation of health and happiness. Results suggest that if health perception disparity increases by 1, happiness disparity increases by 0.325, implying relatively better or poorer evaluation of health can generate happiness gap between genders. This study analyzes the happiness disparity between the sexes in an economic framework and clarifies the effect of health perception using an IV.

Keywords:

happiness, health perception, happiness disparity in gender, body mass index, instrumental variable

Acknowledgments

This paper is a revised version of Soohyun Choi’s master’s dissertation in 2017. I thank professor Sok Chul Hong for helpful comments and advice.

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