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Subjective Outcomes in Economics
Author(s) -
Hamermesh Daniel S.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
southern economic journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.762
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 2325-8012
pISSN - 0038-4038
DOI - 10.1002/j.2325-8012.2004.tb00619.x
Subject(s) - economics , subjective well being , positive economics , focus (optics) , psychology , social psychology , happiness , physics , optics
This study examines the various uses of subjective outcomes as a focus of interest for economists. It outlines the possible channels by which economists can usefully add to what is already a massive literature on such outcomes in the other social sciences. Generally, we contribute little if we merely engage in fancier empirical work and still less if we describe subjective outcomes by other subjective outcomes. Our biggest contributions can be in adducing economic theories that allow a better understanding of objective behavior using subjective outcomes, or of the determinants of subjective outcomes, or in understanding subjective outcomes, such as expectations, that underlie objective economic behavior.