DO WEALTH SHOCKS MATTER FOR THE LIFE SATISFACTION OF THE ELDERLY? EVIDENCE FROM THE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY

Year of Publication
2020
Author
Marco Cozzi
Qiushan Li
Series Title
Department Discussion Paper
Document Number
DDP2002
Report Number
1914-2838
Institution
Department of Economics, University of Victoria
City
Victoria, B.C., Canada
Abstract

This note studies the determinants of life satisfaction for the elderly and near-elderly in the U.S., using data
from the Health and Retirement Study. The econometric analysis exploits the 2008-09 financial crisis as a
source of exogenous variation in wealth, caused by a long-lasting decrease in asset prices. Although
absolute changes in wealth are not found to systematically affect individuals' well-being, losing 60% or
more of the pre-crisis wealth negatively impacted measures of life satisfaction.
URL
https://www.uvic.ca/socialsciences/economics/assets/docs/discussion/ddp2002.pdf
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