Well-Being and Geography: Modelling Differences in Regional Well-Being Profiles in Case of Spatial Dependence—Evidence from Turkey

Zeynep Elburz (), Karima Kourtit and Peter Nijkamp
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Zeynep Elburz: Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH), Department of City and Regional Planning, Izmir 35430, Turkey
Karima Kourtit: The Faculty of Management, Open University of the Netherlands (OU), 6419 Heerlen, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-15

Abstract: The aim of this study is to provide a new quantitative perspective on the geography of well-being using an urban–rural typology and characteristic city size elements in order to detect where people are happier and to examine the determinants of well-being by considering spatial dependence effects. We use 81 NUTS 3 regions and the time period 2012–2019 to analyse the geography of well-being for Turkey with panel and spatial panel models. Our results show that living in an urban area, in general, makes people happy, but that density negatively affects well-being. In addition, city size matters for enhancing well-being. We also analyse the determinants of well-being by using several socio-economic well-being indicators. Next, the aspatial and spatial model results based on spatial econometric regressions show that education, health, employment, and income are all important for well-being, whereas indirect effects (spillovers) of these indicators also exist. Our results indicate that ignoring spatial effects causes a misinterpretation of the effects of critical determinants of well-being in geography.

Keywords: urban–rural typology; well-being indicator; determinants of well-being; spatial panel models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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