@techreport{NBERw9619,
 title = "Is Business Cycle Volatility Costly? Evidence from Surveys of Subjective Wellbeing",
 author = "Justin Wolfers",
 institution = "National Bureau of Economic Research",
 type = "Working Paper",
 series = "Working Paper Series",
 number = "9619",
 year = "2003",
 month = "April",
 URL = "http://www.nber.org/papers/w9619",
 abstract = {This paper analyzes the effects of business cycle volatility on measures of subjective well-being, including self-reported happiness and life satisfaction. I find robust evidence that high inflation and, to a greater extent, unemployment lower perceived well-being. Greater macroeconomic volatility also undermines well-being. These effects are moderate but important: eliminating unemployment volatility would raise well-being by an amount roughly equal to that from lowering the average level of unemployment by a quarter of a percentage point. The effects of inflation volatility on well-being are less easy to detect and are likely smaller.},
}