In 2001, Norwegian tax records became easily accessible online, allowing everyone in the country to observe the incomes of everyone else. According to the income comparisons model, this change in transparency can widen the gap in well-being between richer and poorer individuals. We test this hypothesis using survey data from 1985–2013. Using multiple identification strategies, we show that the higher transparency increased the gap in happiness between richer and poorer individuals by 29%, and it increased the life satisfaction gap by 21%. We provide suggestive evidence that some, although probably not all, of this effect relates to changes in self-perceptions of relative income. We provide back-of-the-envelope estimates of the importance of income comparisons, and discuss implications for the ongoing debate on transparency policies.

中文翻译：

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收入透明度对幸福感的影响：来自自然实验的证据

2001年，挪威税务记录变得可以轻松地在线访问，从而使该国的每个人都能观察到其他人的收入。根据收入比较模型，透明度的这种变化可以扩大富人和穷人之间的幸福感差距。我们使用1985-2013年的调查数据检验了这一假设。使用多种识别策略，我们发现较高的透明度将富人和穷人之间的幸福差距增加了29％，并将生活满意度差距增加了21％。我们提供了暗示性的证据，表明这种影响中的一些（虽然可能不是全部）与相对收入自我认知的变化有关。我们提供收入比较的重要性的背景估算，并讨论对正在进行的有关透明性政策辩论的影响。