Discontent and the Left Turn in Latin America

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Wiesehomeier ◽  
David Doyle
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Left Turn ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Electoral Outcomes ◽  
Individual Perceptions ◽  
Psychology And Economics ◽  
Experienced Utility ◽  
Shed Light

The electoral success of the left across Latin America has largely been interpreted as a backlash against globalization and a manifestation of anti-market voting of citizens increasingly frustrated with their experience of representative democracy. However, studies trying to test these propositions show rather inconclusive results and face the problem of translating objective economic conditions into observable individual perceptions. This article contends that theories of subjective well-being in psychology and economics can shed light on this left turn. In particular, life satisfaction, as a manifestation of experienced utility, can help explain the electoral outcomes observed throughout the region. The findings show that support for the left is higher the more unsatisfied voters are under a right incumbent.

scholarly journals Another Brick on the Wall: On the Effects of Non-Contributory Pensions on Material and Subjective Well Being

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosangela Bando ◽  
Sebastián Galiani ◽  
Paul Gertler
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Latin America ◽  
External Validity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Public Expenditures ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Pension Schemes ◽  
Standard Deviations

Public expenditures on non-contributory pensions are equivalent to at least 1 percent of GDP in several countries in Latin America and is expected to increase. We explore the effect of non-contributory pensions on the well-being of the beneficiary population by studying the "Pensiones Alimentarias" program established by law in Paraguay, which targets older adults living in poverty. Households with a beneficiary increased their level of consumption by 44 percent. The program improved subjective well-being in 0.48 standard deviations. These effects are consistent with the findings of Bando, Galiani and Gertler (2020) and Galiani, Gertler and Bando (2016) in their studies on the non-contributory pension schemes in Peru and Mexico. Thus, we conclude that the effects of non-contributory pensions on well-being in Paraguay are comparable to those found for Peru and Mexico and add to the construction of external validity.

scholarly journals Happy with Your Capabilities? Valuing ICECAP-O and ICECAP-A States Based on Experienced Utility Using Subjective Well-Being Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 498-510
Author(s):  
Sebastian Himmler ◽  
Job van Exel ◽  
Werner Brouwer
Keyword(s):  
Regression Models ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Economic Evaluations ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Composite Measure ◽  
Target Groups ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Experienced Utility ◽  
Decision Utility ◽  
Value Sets

Background. The ICECAP-O and the ICECAP-A are validated capability well-being instruments. To be used in economic evaluations, multidimensional instruments require weighting of the distinguished well-being states. These weights are usually obtained through ex ante preference elicitation (i.e., decision utility) but could also be based on experienced utility. Objective. This article describes the development of value sets for ICECAP-O and ICECAP-A based on experienced utility and compares them with current decision utility weights. Methods. Data from 2 cross-sectional samples corresponding to the target groups of ICECAP-O and ICECAP-A were used in 2 separate analyses. The utility impacts of ICECAP-O and ICECAP-A levels were assessed through regression models using a composite measure of subjective well-being as a proxy for experienced utility. The observed utility impacts were rescaled to match the 0 to 1 range of the existing value set. Results. The calculated experienced utility values were similar to the decision utility weights for some of the ICECAP dimensions but deviated for others. The largest differences were found for weights of the ICECAP-O dimension enjoyment and the ICECAP-A dimensions attachment and autonomy. Conclusions. The results suggest a different weighting of ICECAP-O and ICECAP-A levels if experienced utility is used instead of decision utility.

scholarly journals Cultural Participation and Subjective Well-Being in Latin America: Does Ethnic-Racial Ascription Matter?

2021 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 53-70
Author(s):  
Javier Reyes-Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Ordered Logit ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Cultural Participation ◽  
Logit Regression ◽  
Positive Impacts

Cultural participation has been evidenced to bring several benefits to the well-being of individuals. However, the analysis of this relationship has been addressed mostly in the context of Westernized countries, without considering the diversity of populations in Latin America. Therefore, the aim of this manuscript is to explore the association between cultural participation and subjective well-being (measured by life satisfaction) in Latin America, considering ethnic-racial ascription. With data from the 2013 Latinobarómetro survey (n=20204), several ordered logit regression analyses were performed. Results suggest that read books, read news, attend movies, attend theater, visit heritage places, and participation in community celebrations are associated with life satisfaction. However, these relationships show differentiated patterns depending on the ethnic-racial ascription, which implies that the positive impacts of cultural participation cannot be attributed to all populations, highlighting a process of social exclusion where some individuals get benefits of cultural participation, while others do not.

scholarly journals Crossroads of Higher Education in Troubled Times Facing the Future of Work and the Subjective Well-Being of Professionals in Latin America

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Iturrieta Olivares
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Professional Work ◽  
Current Affairs ◽  
Turbulent Times ◽  
The Future ◽  
Current Context

The effects of massification, fragmentation and segmentation in higher education have been exacerbated by the state of current affairs. Latin America has been especially shaken, due to e.g., political changes resulting from massive expressions of social discontent following 2019; or the arrival of COVID-19, its interruption of the quotidian, and its impetus for technology to burst into professional work. In this context, three major crossroads for higher education – resulting from bibliographical and document analysis and integration – are presented in the paper, “Rethinking undergraduate training in social sciences from the imaginaries of the future about professional work”. The paper discusses development in the current context, the future of professional work, and subjective well-being in professionals. To face these challenges, the conclusions propose the exercise of prognostic intelligence as an alternative. Prognostic intelligence is a professional skill that can be developed during higher education. Its practice would eschew the presentism characteristic of our turbulent times in favor of expanding the possibilities of outlining the future of higher education on the basis of relevance, quality, and stability.

Introduction

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew D. Adler ◽  
Marc Fleurbaey
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Interdisciplinary Treatment ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Multidimensional Approach ◽  
Policy Assessment ◽  
Level Indicator ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Psychology And Economics

What are the methodologies that we should employ for designing and evaluating governmental policy, in light of the profound effects that policies have on the level and distribution of individuals’ well-being? The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary treatment of this question—drawing from welfare economics, moral philosophy, and psychology. Part I covers policy-assessment methodologies, both established and emerging. Part II reviews philosophical conceptions of well-being, and the literature on “subjective well-being” in psychology and economics. The chapters in Part III focus specifically on well-being measurement, proposing or empirically illustrating various approaches to constructing a comprehensive individual-level indicator of well-being—or, alternatively, defending a “multidimensional” approach that eschews such a measure. Part IV reviews a variety of challenges for policy assessment. This introductory chapter describes the Handbook structure and the role that each chapter plays therein and highlights a number of key Handbook themes.

Time well spent versus a life considered: changing subjective Well-Being in China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
By Shu Cai ◽  
Albert Park ◽  
Winnie Yip
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Reconstruction Method ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Adaptation Theory ◽  
Day Reconstruction Method ◽  
Longitudinal Survey Data ◽  
Experienced Utility ◽  
Positive Feelings

Abstract Using unique longitudinal survey data that employed the Day Reconstruction Method to measure experienced utility (EU) in rural China, this study reveals striking differences in the trends for life satisfaction and EU. We find that reported life satisfaction changed little over the period from 2006 to 2009. However, EU increased significantly during the same period. The improvement in EU is mainly due to more positive feelings about specific activities rather than changes in the time spent on different activities. These findings are consistent with the predictions of aspiration adaptation theory.

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