TITLE:
Education Not for Money: An Economic Analysis on Education, Civic Engagement and Life Satisfaction
AUTHORS:
Leonardo Becchetti, Nazaria Solferino, M. Elisabetta Tessitore
KEYWORDS:
Civic Engagement, Education, Life Satisfaction
JOURNAL NAME:
Theoretical Economics Letters,
Vol.6 No.1,
February
3,
2016
ABSTRACT: Many recent theoretical
and empirical findings both in Economics and in Psychology show that, in
addition to the effects on policy outcomes, political participation may affect
individual utility and increase happiness and well-being. In this paper we
devise a theoretical model where the individual utility grows through the civic
engagement, which may be enjoyed only with a sufficient level of investment in civic capital accumulated through
education. We show that investing in education may have important consequences
for subjective well-being by enhancing civic capacities which are relevant to
improve individual’s civic engagement and social outcomes, even without any
monetary effects. More specifically, we identify a form of non pecuniary
benefits of education represented by the possibility of taking an active and
successful part in social and civic life which significantly contribute to life
satisfaction.