Unhappy Metros: Panel Evidence

Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn ()
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Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn: Rutgers-Camden University

Applied Research in Quality of Life, 2023, vol. 18, issue 2, No 7, 753-763

Abstract: Abstract We study the effect of urbanicity (metro v nonmetro) on life satisfaction, or Subjective WellBeing (SWB). The literature agrees that residents of metropolitan areas tend to be less satisfied with their lives than residents of smaller settlements in the developed world. But the existing evidence is cross-sectional only. This is the first study using longitudinal dataset to test the “unhappy metro” hypothesis. Using the 2009–2019 US Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), we find support for the cross-sectional findings: metros are less happy than nonmetros. The effect size is practically significant, the negative effect of metro v nonmetro is equivalent to the effect of one’s health deteriorating about a third from “fair” to “poor.” Given extremely large scale of urbanization, projected 6b of people from 1950 to 2050, the combined effect of urbanicity on human wellbeing is large.

Keywords: Panel study of income dynamics (PSID); Urban–rural happiness gradient; Urban; Cities; Happiness; Life satisfaction; Subjective wellbeing (SWB) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s11482-022-10102-7

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