How does civilization promote happiness? Insights from the Civilized Cities Program in China

Penghu Zhu, Yingying Hu () and Ning Zhang ()
Additional contact information
Penghu Zhu: Shandong University
Yingying Hu: Wuhan University
Ning Zhang: Shandong University

Palgrave Communications, 2024, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-18

Abstract: Abstract Urban governance aims to enhance overall social welfare, while residents’ happiness frequently falls by the wayside. Civilization, as a critical factor influencing residents’ happiness, has not yet been fully understood regarding its impact and mechanisms. This paper uses the China Family Panel Studies data, which includes around 50,000 samples ranging from 2010 to 2020, to construct a multi-period difference-in-differences model. It finds that China’s highest honor for urban brands, the civilized city program, leads to an average increase of 2.6% in residents’ happiness as measured by life satisfaction. This happiness effect is robust but temporary, gradually diminishing within five years following the honor. The happiness effect is heterogeneous across different waves and city sizes and is effective only for urban residents. Mechanism analysis indicates the happiness effect of the civilized city program through three channels: government efforts, social trust, and identity recognition. Additionally, our research indicates that the civilized city initiative improves residents’ perception of environmental quality and reduces income inequality. These findings provide insights into understanding how the civilization tournament policy promotes happiness.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-024-03539-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palcom:v:11:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-024-03539-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/palcomms/about

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-024-03539-8

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Palgrave Communications from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().