Do country sustainability practices matter to happiness?

Pei-Fen Chen and Mei-Ping Chen

Economic Modelling, 2025, vol. 152, issue C

Abstract: This study pioneers a global, longitudinal analysis of how country-level ESG (environmental, social, and governance) metrics shape national happiness across 136 nations from 2006 to 2021. By examining both happiness and corruption perceptions as two opposite indicators, the research reveals that ESG impacts vary across income levels and quantiles, with low-income nations being less influenced, indicating that some infrastructures are more vital than ESG. Using quantile and panel threshold regression, the study uncovers asymmetric effects of ESG-related practices (e.g., land surface temperature, renewable energy output, internet, and access to electricity), and identifies nonlinear relationships—such as U-shaped and inverted U-shaped patterns—between ESG indices and happiness or corruption. These findings expose a “too-much-of-a-good-thing” phenomenon and reinforce the nuanced role of ESG in sustainable development.

Keywords: ESG (environmental, social, and governance); Country happiness; Non-linearity; Threshold regression; Quantile regression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O44 Q01 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:152:y:2025:i:c:s026499932500272x

DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2025.107277

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