Do relational goods raise well-being? An econometric analysis

This paper explores the relationship between different types of relational goods and well-being and examines if there is latent/unobserved heterogeneity in this relationship by applying the Latent Class Ordered Probit model. This unique contribution to the literature examines if some individuals have a more associative disposition than others which contributes to their subjective well-being through the consumption of relational goods. As well as relational goods that have been well researched, such as marital status and household composition, this paper explores participation in sports, arts and cultural activities, as well as attendance at events or facilities for these activities, heritage visits, volunteering and gambling

Uncertainty and the Bank of England's MPC

We investigate how recently developed measures of uncertainty affect the voting behavior of individual Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members. To determine the precise impact of uncertainty on individual policymakers, we estimate the standard errors of member-specific parameters in a random parameters ordered probit framework. We find that uncertainty is typically associated with voting to ease the policy stance. The Bank of England's in-house uncertainty index plays a prominent role in driving voting behavior. Based on this measure, the MPC emerges as a diverse group of activist risk managers.</p