The Political Economy of Life Satisfaction: Democracy, National Wealth, and Personal Income

Nisha Bellinger, Jonathan Krieckhaus, Byunghwan Son

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Numerous studies examine the micro-dynamics of subjective well-being (SWB) generally, or life satisfaction (LS) more specifically. Others also document the macro determinants of SWB and LS. We propose a model linking the two, in which an individual’s life satisfaction is contingent on (1) personal circumstances, (2) national factors such as democratic governance and the national wealth, and (3) the explicit interaction of these two levels of analysis. We test three sets of hypotheses that arise from this model with compiled data from six waves of the World Values Survey (WVS) data. The empirical evidence we present supports most of the hypotheses, including our novel proposition that both national wealth and democracy reduce the effect of individual personal income on LS.

Original languageAmerican English
JournalPolitical Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
StatePublished - 1 Apr 2024

EGS Disciplines

  • Political Science

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