Abstract
This paper examines how economic shocks affect individual well-being in developing countries. Using the case of a sudden and unanticipated currency devaluation in Botswana as a quasi-experiment, we examine how this monetary shock affects individuals’ evaluations of well-being. We do so by using micro-level survey data, which – incidentally – was collected in the days surrounding the devaluation. The chance occurrence of the devaluation during the time of the survey enables us to use pre-treatment respondents, surveyed before the devaluation, as approximate counterfactuals for post-treatment respondents, surveyed after the devaluation. Our estimates show that the devaluation had a large and significantly negative effect on individuals’ evaluations of subjective well-being. These results suggest that macroeconomic shocks, such as unanticipated currency devaluations, may have significant short-term costs in the form of reductions in people’s sense of well-being.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Publisher | SSRN: Social Science Research Network |
Number of pages | 32 |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Bibliographical note
JEL Classification: E50, H0, I31, O23Keywords
- Faculty of Social Sciences
- Subjective well-being
- economic shocks,
- currency devaluation
- quasi-experiment