The Impact of Institutions and Development on Happiness

Duha Altindag () and Junyue Xu

No auwp2011-08, Auburn Economics Working Paper Series from Department of Economics, Auburn University

Abstract: This paper demonstrates that institutional factors influence the subjective well-being of individuals differently in rich versus poor countries. A lower level of corruption, a more democratic government and better civil rights increase the well-being of individuals in rich countries, whereas an increase in per capita income has no impact. On the contrary, in poor countries the extent of corruption, democracy and civil rights has no influence on happiness, but an increase in per capita income impacts happiness positively. This stark contrast may be due to the difference of preferences over income and institutional factors.

Keywords: Economic Development; Happiness; Subjective Well-Being; Institutions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D60 D73 I31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cwa, nep-hap, nep-pbe and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Impact of Institutions and Development on Happiness (2009)
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