Abstract

ALIAGA LORDEMANN, Javier  and  HERRERA JIMENEZ, Alejandro. How happy are the volunteers in the city of La Paz?: An Application of the Economics of Happiness. rlde [online]. 2014, n.21, pp.137-172. ISSN 2074-4706.

In recent years, the Economics of Happiness has been establishing empirical relationships between different levels of subjective well-being and different socio-economic variables. In this context, one of the most important empirical findings in this literature is an important positive correlation between the level of happiness and the belief that a person expresses. According to this research, people who manifest a high level of personal convictions could be social, religious, cultural or political ones are more likely to achieve a high level of happiness, when their work is effectively achieved, such as a volunteering or pastoral activity. Based on the results of a statistically significant survey of people doing volunteer work in La Paz city, this study seeks to answer the following research questions: How happy are the volunteers in the city of La Paz convictions make us? and ¿What elements determine the average level of happiness in this group of volunteers? To answer these questions, the authors use econometric estimates based on Ordered Probit model. The main results of the study show that levels of happiness among volunteer people are highly influenced by variable as faith convictions, gender, age, education, leadership and working tangibility affect them.

Keywords : Economics of Happiness; personal convictions; volunteerism and micro econometrics.