Institutions and Life Satisfaction

Berggren, Niclas; Bjørnskov, Christian

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_192-1

Cited by 21 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 115 publications

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“…As empirically proven by the above-mentioned authors, confidence in government is positively correlated with SWB. In a similar vein, Berggren and Bjørnskov [46] find that functioning institutions for the most part have a positive relationship with subjective well-being (SWB).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 75%

When the Going Gets Tough … the Effect of Economic Reform Programmes on National Well-Being

Andrijić

Barbić

2021

Sustainability

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Well-being is an essential human need and has social, psychological and economic benefits. Consequently, social scientists and economists, in particular, want to know whether economic reform can lead to increased (and sustainable) happiness. To answer this question, we applied a new approach—investigating the effect of economic reform programmes on national well-being for 154 countries between 2005 and 2018. As the dependent variable, we employed national subjective well-being scores based on people’s evaluation of their satisfaction with life. International Monetary Fund economic reform programmes provided a sufficiently long time–series and global presence for the main independent variable. We used a treatment effect model and fixed-effects instrumental variable panel with the novel approach of synthetic instruments, to address selection bias generated by the non-random selection of countries into International Monetary Fund programme participation, also controlling for unobservable characteristics influencing both International Monetary Fund participation and national well-being. Irrespective of the approach used, empirical findings show that economic reform programmes lead to increased national well-being globally, both in the short-term and the long-term. The results do not imply that International Monetary Fund arrangements should be used as policy tools to increase national well-being. They empirically confirm our argument that improvements in national economies sustaining increased well-being require intentional effort and engagement.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 75%

When the Going Gets Tough … the Effect of Economic Reform Programmes on National Well-Being

Andrijić

Barbić

2021

Sustainability

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“…Microeconomic studies demonstrate a positive link between life satisfaction and income (Boyce et al, 2010; Frijters et al, 2004) and Easterlin (2015) demonstrates that short-term fluctuations in national happiness and economic development are positively related. At the same time, governments can impact the happiness of the nation by pursuing more democratic policies (Berggren and Bjørnskov, 2020; Orviska et al, 2014; Radcliff and Shufeldt, 2016) as democratic policies better respond to people’s preferences. Democratic elements in policy-making may benefit people’s wellbeing by both satisfying the opinions of the majority and allowing their direct participation in policy-making processes (Dorn et al, 2007).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is philanthropy related to life satisfaction? Cross-country evidence

Salahodjaev

Isaeva²,

Abdullayev

2022

International Sociology

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The goal of this study is to investigate the relationship between philanthropy and life satisfaction, using data from 142 countries. The results show that philanthropy rates are significantly and positively associated with subjective wellbeing. A one standard deviation increase in philanthropy rates is associated with slightly less than half-standard deviation rises in life satisfaction. This association remains significant even after the introduction of a rich set of socio-economic controls.

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“…Prior studies on governance and happiness broadly consist of two bodies. First, there are a vast number of articles examining how formal institutions—legal, political, and economic (Berggren and Bjørnskov, 2020)—affect happiness. Second, there are articles examining how quality of government—government capacity (Ott, 2010, 2011)—affects happiness.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Berggren and Bjørnskov (2020) define formal institutions as written rules, such as laws, that affect people’s satisfaction via constraining political, legal, and economic decisions. These institutions affect SWB both directly and indirectly.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Happiness in developing countries: can government competitiveness substitute for formal institutions?

Chung

2021

International Review of Administrative Sciences

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Accumulated empirical studies have examined how various qualities of governance affect happiness across countries. This study contributes to prior studies by testing a hypothesis that when developing countries lack effective legal and political institutions, capable government may substitute for their functions to promote happiness via effective policy planning and implementation. To test this expectation, this study compares which qualities of governance—government capacity, democracy, and legal system—matter for happiness in developing countries. While prior studies have overwhelmingly relied on the World Governance Indicator to measure government capacity, we introduce a new measure—government competitiveness—developed by the Center for Government Competitiveness, which overcomes some criticisms. Using this indicator, we employ pooled Ordinary Least Square and two-way fixed effects panel data analysis for 80 non-Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries spanning the years 2015–2018. As a robustness test, we conduct instrumental variable estimation, using geography as an instrument for government competitiveness. Our analysis shows that government competitiveness has a positive and statistically robust effect on happiness across all estimations, while quality of democracy and judicial independence display ambivalent effects. Our instrumental variable results suggest that judicial independence and quality of democracy display a substituting and complementing relationship with government competitiveness, respectively. Points for practitioners This article suggests that institutional arrangements for promoting happiness in developing countries differ from developed countries. In developing countries: (1) government competitiveness may play a more important role than judicial and democratic institutions; and (2) government competitiveness may complement democratic institutions but substitute for judicial institutions. For developing countries facing resource constraints, this article recommends policymakers to prioritize fostering competitive government for promoting happiness.

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Institutions and Life Satisfaction

Cited by 21 publications

References 115 publications

When the Going Gets Tough … the Effect of Economic Reform Programmes on National Well-Being

When the Going Gets Tough … the Effect of Economic Reform Programmes on National Well-Being

Is philanthropy related to life satisfaction? Cross-country evidence

Happiness in developing countries: can government competitiveness substitute for formal institutions?

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