Arbeitspapier

Happiness of Economists

We study the importance of economists' professional situation toward their life satisfaction based on a unique survey of mostly academic economists. On average, economists report to be highly happy with life. Satisfaction is positively related to spending more time on doing research. The lack of a tenured position decreases satisfaction. However, the extent to which the uncertainty created by the tenure system affects satisfaction varies with the contract terms. The effect is stronger if the contract expires in the near future or cannot be extended. Publication success has no effect if it is controlled for academic rank and the contract duration. The finding suggests that publications are rather a means to an end, e.g., to acquire a tenured position. While the perceived level of external pressure also has no impact, the perceived change of pressure in recent years is positively related to economists' life satisfaction. An explanation is that economists have accepted a high level of pressure when entering academia but are not willing to cope with the recent increase.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 5099

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
General Welfare; Well-Being
Role of Economics; Role of Economists; Market for Economists
Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
Thema
happiness
academic labor market
extrinsic and intrinsic motivation
publish or perish

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Feld, Lars P.
Necker, Sarah
Frey, Bruno S.
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
(wo)
Munich
(wann)
2014

Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:45 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Feld, Lars P.
  • Necker, Sarah
  • Frey, Bruno S.
  • Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)

Entstanden

  • 2014

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