From Economic Growth to Sustainable Wellbeing

Dimitar Sabev ()
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Dimitar Sabev: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Economic Research Institute

Bulgarian Economic Papers from Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski - Bulgaria // Center for Economic Theories and Policies at Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski

Abstract: This article argues that growth is not always a path to greater happiness - based on data from 134 countries grouped into 6 regions, the analysis identified three major patterns in the relationship between economic growth and subjective wellbeing. In the Global North, there is a significant negative association – that is, higher growth impedes the population’s wellbeing. For the emerging economies in Asia and Latin America, the link is positive: higher economic growth promotes happiness. Finally, for a broad group of countries in Africa and the Middle East, as well as in the Eurasia region, there is no clear statistical association between growth and happiness, assumedly because of their statist and resource-based economic structure. The general conclusion confirms the existence of the Easterlin Paradox on an international level, which might be explained by two main factors: the higher marginal social and environmental costs of growth beyond a certain threshold, and the need for institutions to provide equitable distribution of the surplus output. The main policy implication of this finding is that “more growth†is an improper development prescription for both the richest and the poorest nations.

Keywords: economic growth; subjective wellbeing; post-growth; Easterlin Paradox; institutions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I31 O43 O47 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 6 pages
Date: 2026-04, Revised 2026-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env, nep-gro and nep-hap
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