Can a click buy a little happiness? The impact of business-to-consumer e-commerce on subjective well-being

Sabatini, Fabio (2011): Can a click buy a little happiness? The impact of business-to-consumer e-commerce on subjective well-being.

Abstract

This paper presents the first empirical investigation into the effect of e-shopping on subjective well-being. The analysis relies on an Italian nationally and regionally representative dataset from Italy (n = 4,130) drawn from the 2008 wave of the Survey of Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) carried out by the Bank of Italy. Probit, OLS regressions and instrumental variables estimates show that e-shopping is strongly and positively associated with subjective well-being.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: happiness; subjective well-being; Internet; business-to-consumer e-commerce; B2C; e-shopping; instrumental variables; Italy
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty > I31 - General Welfare, Well-Being; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z19 - Other; L - Industrial Organization > L8 - Industry Studies: Services > L86 - Information and Internet Services ; Computer Software

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