IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-19-00727.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Homeownership and happiness: evidence from Canad

Author

Listed:
  • Ehsan Latif

    (Thompson Rivers University)

Abstract

This study used panel data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey to examine the impact of homeownership on individual happiness. The study utilized a number of estimation methods, namely Ordered Probit, Ordinary Least Squares and panel data Fixed Effects. The Ordered Probit and the Ordinary Least Squares methods do not control for unobserved individual specific heterogeneities that may impact happiness. On the other hand, the panel data allowed this study to use a fixed effects method that controls for unobserved individual specific fixed effects. The results of the fixed effects method for the overall sample suggest that owning a home has no significant impact on happiness. However, the sub-sample analysis based on income levels suggests that owning a home negatively impacts happiness of individuals in the lowest income category.

Suggested Citation

  • Ehsan Latif, 2021. "Homeownership and happiness: evidence from Canad," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(1), pages 1-17.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-19-00727
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2021/Volume0/EB-21-V41-I1-P1.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Diaz-Serrano, Luis, 2009. "Disentangling the housing satisfaction puzzle: Does homeownership really matter?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 745-755, October.
    2. Inder J. Ruprah, 2010. "Does Owning Your Home Make You Happier?: Impact Evidence from Latin America," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 24078, Inter-American Development Bank.
    3. Oswald, Andrew J., 1996. "A Conjecture on the Explanation for High Unemployment in the Industrialized Nations: Part I," Economic Research Papers 268744, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    4. Ruprah, Inder J., 2010. "Does Owning Your Home Make You Happier?: Impact Evidence from Latin America," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 2899, Inter-American Development Bank.
    5. Helliwell, John F., 2003. "How's life? Combining individual and national variables to explain subjective well-being," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 331-360, March.
    6. Jakob Roland Munch & Michael Rosholm & Michael Svarer, 2006. "Are Homeowners Really More Unemployed?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(514), pages 991-1013, October.
    7. Diaz-Serrano, Luis, 2006. "Housing Satisfaction, Homeownership and Housing Mobility: A Panel Data Analysis for Twelve EU Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 2318, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Robert J. MacCulloch & Rafael Di Tella & Andrew J. Oswald, 2001. "Preferences over Inflation and Unemployment: Evidence from Surveys of Happiness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 335-341, March.
    9. Dietz, Robert D. & Haurin, Donald R., 2003. "The social and private micro-level consequences of homeownership," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 401-450, November.
    10. Clark, Andrew E & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Unhappiness and Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 648-659, May.
    11. Todd Sinai & Nicholas S. Souleles, 2005. "Owner-Occupied Housing as a Hedge Against Rent Risk," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 763-789.
    12. Clark, Andrew E. & Oswald, Andrew J., 1996. "Satisfaction and comparison income," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 359-381, September.
    13. Engelhardt, Gary V. & Eriksen, Michael D. & Gale, William G. & Mills, Gregory B., 2010. "What are the social benefits of homeownership? Experimental evidence for low-income households," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 249-258, May.
    14. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Paul Frijters, 2004. "How Important is Methodology for the estimates of the determinants of Happiness?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(497), pages 641-659, July.
    15. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    16. Ehsan Latif, 2015. "Happiness Adaptation to Income: Evidence from Canada," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(3), pages 1477-1487.
    17. Turner, Tracy M. & Luea, Heather, 2009. "Homeownership, wealth accumulation and income status," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 104-114, June.
    18. Latif, Ehsan, 2010. "Crisis, unemployment and psychological wellbeing in Canada," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 520-530, July.
    19. Parker, Louise & Watson, Duncan & Webb, Robert, 2011. "Family fortunes: Gender-based differences in the impact of employment and home characteristics on satisfaction levels," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 259-264, May.
    20. Timo Zumbro, 2014. "The Relationship Between Homeownership and Life Satisfaction in Germany," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 319-338, April.
    21. Díaz Serrano, Luis & Ferrer Carbonell, Ada & Hartog, Joop, 2009. "Disentangling the Housing Satisfaction Puzzle: Does Homeownership Really Matter?," Working Papers 2072/42898, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    22. Donald R. Haurin & Toby L. Parcel & R. Jean Haurin, 2002. "Does Homeownership Affect Child Outcomes?," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 30(4), pages 635-666.
    23. Honghao Ren & Henk Folmer & Arno J. Van der Vlist, 2018. "The Impact of Home Ownership on Life Satisfaction in Urban China: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 397-422, February.
    24. Eli Beracha & Ken H. Johnson, 2012. "Lessons from Over 30 Years of Buy versus Rent Decisions: Is the American Dream Always Wise?," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 40(2), pages 217-247, June.
    25. Juncal Cuñado & Fernando Gracia, 2012. "Does Education Affect Happiness? Evidence for Spain," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 185-196, August.
    26. Feng Hu, 2013. "Homeownership and Subjective Wellbeing in Urban China: Does Owning a House Make You Happier?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(3), pages 951-971, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sebastian Will & Timon Renz, 2021. "In Debt but Still Happy? Examining the Relationship between Homeownership and Life Satisfaction," ERES eres2021_89, European Real Estate Society (ERES).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mingzhi Hu & Wenping Ye, 2020. "Home Ownership and Subjective Wellbeing: A Perspective from Ownership Heterogeneity," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 1059-1079, March.
    2. Sebastian Will & Timon Renz, 2021. "In Debt but Still Happy? Examining the Relationship between Homeownership and Life Satisfaction," ERES eres2021_89, European Real Estate Society (ERES).
    3. Cheng, Zhiming & King, Stephen P. & Smyth, Russell & Wang, Haining, 2016. "Housing property rights and subjective wellbeing in urban China," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 45(S), pages 160-174.
    4. Stotz, Olaf, 2019. "The perception of homeownership utility: Short-term and long-term effects," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 99-111.
    5. Ehsan Latif, 2016. "Happiness and Comparison Income: Evidence from Canada," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 161-177, August.
    6. Reto Odermatt & Alois Stutzer, 2022. "Does the Dream of Home Ownership Rest Upon Biased Beliefs? A Test Based on Predicted and Realized Life Satisfaction," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(8), pages 3731-3763, December.
    7. Honghao Ren & Henk Folmer & Arno J. Van der Vlist, 2018. "The Impact of Home Ownership on Life Satisfaction in Urban China: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 397-422, February.
    8. Feng Hu, 2013. "Homeownership and Subjective Wellbeing in Urban China: Does Owning a House Make You Happier?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(3), pages 951-971, February.
    9. Mª del Salinas-Jiménez & Joaquín Artés & Javier Salinas-Jiménez, 2013. "How Do Educational Attainment and Occupational and Wage-Earner Statuses Affect Life Satisfaction? A Gender Perspective Study," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 367-388, April.
    10. Tuyen Quang Tran & Huong Vu, 2018. "A microeconometric analysis of housing and life satisfaction among the Vietnamese elderly," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 849-867, March.
    11. Sara Ramos & Elias Soukiazis, 2014. "Determinants of Subjective Well-Being in Portugal: A Micro-Data Study," GEMF Working Papers 2014-16, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    12. Tim Tiefenbach & Florian Kohlbacher, 2015. "Happiness in Japan in Times of Upheaval: Empirical Evidence from the National Survey on Lifestyle Preferences," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 333-366, April.
    13. Iddisah Sulemana, 2015. "The Effect of Fear of Crime and Crime Victimization on Subjective Well-Being in Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 849-872, April.
    14. Andrew E. Clark & Luis Diaz-Serrano, 2023. "Do individuals adapt to all types of housing transitions?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 645-672, June.
    15. Akay, Alpaslan & Bargain, Olivier B. & Giulietti, Corrado & Robalino, Juan D. & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2016. "Remittances and relative concerns in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 191-207.
    16. Kamal Kasmaoui, 2020. "What makes Moroccans happy: A micro-data study," Working Papers hal-02956855, HAL.
    17. Adrian Chadi & Clemens Hetschko, 2021. "How Job Changes Affect People's Lives — Evidence from Subjective Well‐Being Data," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 279-306, June.
    18. Litchfield, Julie & Reilly, Barry & Veneziani, Mario, 2012. "An analysis of life satisfaction in Albania: An heteroscedastic ordered probit model approach," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(3), pages 731-741.
    19. Matthew Roskruge & Arthur Grimes & Philip McCann & Jacques Poot, 2013. "Homeownership, Social Capital and Satisfaction with Local Government," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(12), pages 2517-2534, September.
    20. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Viola Berlepsch, 2014. "Social Capital and Individual Happiness in Europe," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 357-386, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Homeownership; Happiness; Panel Data; Canada;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • R2 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-19-00727. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.