Infectious happiness in heterogeneous social networks: evidence from rural China

Hang Fang (), Ting Yu (), Michael Delgado () and Qianheng Qian ()
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Hang Fang: Anhui Agricultural University
Ting Yu: Anhui Agricultural University
Michael Delgado: Purdue University
Qianheng Qian: China Agricultural University

Economics Bulletin, 2024, vol. 44, issue 3, 1188 - 1195

Abstract: We investigate infectious effects in happiness using a novel panel of data from a village in China. We construct a complete and heterogeneous social network that includes all households, and use spatial econometric models to estimate the infectious effect. We find that both infectious and contextual effects within social networks are significant for household happiness. Household happiness is not positively influenced by the happiness of the household's closest family, but rather by others from the social network who are not particularly close to the household. We also provide evidence for envy effects between the closest families.

Keywords: Happiness; Infectious Effects; Social Network; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D9 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-09-30
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