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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Does Health Insurance Make People Happier? Evidence From Massachusetts’ Healthcare Reform, Seonghoon Kim, Kanghyock Koh
Does Health Insurance Make People Happier? Evidence From Massachusetts’ Healthcare Reform, Seonghoon Kim, Kanghyock Koh
Research Collection School Of Economics
We study the effects of Massachusetts' healthcare reform on individuals' subjective well-being. Using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, we find that the reform significantly improved Massachusetts residents' overall life-satisfaction. This result is robust to various sensitivity checks and a falsification test. We also find that the reform improved mental health. An additional analysis on the Tennessee healthcare reform supports our findings' external validity. Using the reform as an instrument for health insurance coverage, we estimate its large impact on overall life-satisfaction. Our results provide novel evidence on the psychological consequences of Massachusetts' healthcare reform.
Did The Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Make People Happier?, Seonghoon Kim, Kanghyock Koh
Did The Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Make People Happier?, Seonghoon Kim, Kanghyock Koh
Research Collection School Of Economics
We study the effects of Massachusetts’ healthcare reform on individuals’ subjective well-being. Using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, we find that the reform significantly improved Massachusetts residents’ overall life-satisfaction. This result is robust to various sensitivity checks and falsification tests. We find consistent evidence from other healthcare reforms such as the 2014 Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion and the 2005 Tennessee Medicaid disenrollment, supporting our findings’ external validity. Our results provide novel evidence on the psychological consequences of recent healthcare reforms expanding health insurance coverage to the uninsured.
What Does "Happiness" Prompt In Your Mind? Culture, Word Choice, And Experienced Happiness, Ji Eun Shin, Eunkook M. Suh, Kimin Eom, Heejung S. Kim
What Does "Happiness" Prompt In Your Mind? Culture, Word Choice, And Experienced Happiness, Ji Eun Shin, Eunkook M. Suh, Kimin Eom, Heejung S. Kim
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
What three words come to your mind in association with ‘‘happiness’’? We analyzed the 1563 words reported by 521 Korean and American participants in this free association task. The most frequently endorsed word was ‘‘family’’ in Korea, whereas the most popular word among Americans was ‘‘smile.’’ The overall frequency of social words(e.g., relationships, social emotions) reported by Koreans was higher, and the most often mentioned relationship type differed between the two groups (family in Korea; friend in the US). Nonetheless, both in Korea and the US, individuals who mentioned more social words were significantly more satisfied with their lives. The …