Long-Term Trends in Life Satisfaction in Europe Explained (1973-2012)

In our earlier research based on Eurobarometer micro-data (1973-2012) for eight European countries/regions we have found that in Flanders net time trends are more important than life cycle or generation effects. The results for Flanders also seem to indicate (1) u-shaped life satisfaction levels in the long run and (2) short-term life satisfaction fluctuations being dependent on economic booms and busts. But these results are not representative for other regions/countries considered.

With each of the three temporal dimensions considered (trend, birth cohort and life cycle), one can associate different economical and/or sociological explanations. In this paper we focus on the explanation of long-term life satisfaction trends (Easterlin-paradox, absolute income hypothesis, social trust, …) across Europe. 

We do so by enriching Eurobarometer micro-data (1973-2012) with appropriate macro-level time series such as unemployment rates, gdp, changes in survey methods, … and applying Multilevel Hierarchical Age Period Cohort analysis techniques to explain the variances associated with the clustering of survey respondents by survey year and by region or country.