IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ariqol/v17y2022i4d10.1007_s11482-021-10031-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Life Satisfaction in China, 2010–2018: Trends and Unique Determinants

Author

Listed:
  • Kuo Zhang

    (Minzu University of China)

  • Jipeng Pei

    (Minzu University of China)

  • Shu Wang

    (Minzu University of China
    Minzu University of China)

  • Karlis Rokpelnis

    (Minzu University of China)

  • Xiao Yu

    (Minzu University of China
    Minzu University of China)

Abstract

This study is one of the first to explore the 5 waves of the China Family Panel Studies data from 2010 to 2018, assessing determinants of life satisfaction among a representative sample of Chinese individuals divided into different age groups. We employed the random-effects ordered probit method, and then handled endogeneity by estimating an Extended Regression Model. Several crucial conclusions are reached. Gender affects Chinese life satisfaction, and women tend to report higher life satisfaction than men. The Chinese elderly are more satisfied with life than younger individuals, while the “sandwich generation” may expect a long period of low life satisfaction in the future, which indicates that different Chinese generations are experiencing a “U” shaped life satisfaction trend. Surprisingly, education status is not powerful, and would be not a key variable in explaining Chinese life satisfaction, which may be related with “Credential Inflation” caused by the Chinese educational system reforms. Similarly, marital status is not crucial for the elderly’s life satisfaction, indicating that the phenomenon of “Happiness Rift” does not apply evenly in the Chinese society. Moreover, the social resources related with the Hukou type affect the Chinese individuals’ life satisfaction, but the influence may be less significant in the future as the Hukou system undergoes reforms. Lastly, socioeconomic status and subjective individual perceptions, such as relative income, social status, and future confidence, are powerful in explaining Chinese life satisfaction, suggesting that “a Triton among the minnows” analogy characterizes Chinese life satisfaction, which leads to regional discrimination.

Suggested Citation

  • Kuo Zhang & Jipeng Pei & Shu Wang & Karlis Rokpelnis & Xiao Yu, 2022. "Life Satisfaction in China, 2010–2018: Trends and Unique Determinants," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(4), pages 2311-2348, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:17:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s11482-021-10031-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11482-021-10031-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11482-021-10031-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11482-021-10031-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wan-chi Chen, 2012. "How Education Enhances Happiness: Comparison of Mediating Factors in Four East Asian Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 106(1), pages 117-131, March.
    2. Birdsall, Nancy M. & Griffin, Charles C., 1988. "Fertility and poverty in developing countries," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 29-55, April.
    3. Ann L. Owen & Julio Videras & Christina Willemsen, 2008. "Democracy, Participation, and Life Satisfaction," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 89(4), pages 987-1005, December.
    4. Francesco Ferrante, 2009. "Education, Aspirations and Life Satisfaction," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 542-562, November.
    5. Angus Deaton, 2008. "Income, Health, and Well-Being around the World: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(2), pages 53-72, Spring.
    6. Sophie Cetre & Andrew E. Clark & Claudia Senik, 2016. "Happy People Have Children: Choice and Self-Selection into Parenthood," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(3), pages 445-473, August.
    7. Ravi Kanbur & Xiaobo Zhang, 2005. "Fifty Years of Regional Inequality in China: a Journey Through Central Planning, Reform, and Openness," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(1), pages 87-106, February.
    8. Jason Abrevaya & Hongfei Tang, 2011. "Body mass index in families: spousal correlation, endogeneity, and intergenerational transmission," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 841-864, December.
    9. Ferdi Botha, 2014. "Life Satisfaction and Education in South Africa: Investigating the Role of Attainment and the Likelihood of Education as a Positional Good," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 555-578, September.
    10. Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2009. "The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 190-225, August.
    11. Alesina, Alberto & Di Tella, Rafael & MacCulloch, Robert, 2004. "Inequality and happiness: are Europeans and Americans different?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 2009-2042, August.
    12. Chau-kiu Cheung & Andrew Yiu-tsang Low & Xuan Ning, 2019. "Marital Liberalization in Relation to Life Satisfaction," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(2), pages 291-307, April.
    13. Chau-Kiu Cheung & Kwan-Kwok Leung, 2004. "Forming Life Satisfaction among Different Social Groups during the Modernization of China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 23-56, March.
    14. Anne Case & Angus Deaton, 2015. "Suicide, Age, and Well-Being: An Empirical Investigation," NBER Chapters, in: Insights in the Economics of Aging, pages 307-334, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Bartolini, Stefano & Sarracino, Francesco, 2015. "The Dark Side of Chinese Growth: Declining Social Capital and Well-Being in Times of Economic Boom," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 333-351.
    16. Lijia Guo & Jiashun Huang & You Zhang, 2019. "Education Development in China: Education Return, Quality, and Equity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-20, July.
    17. Anke C. Zimmermann & Richard A. Easterlin, 2006. "Happily Ever After? Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce, and Happiness in Germany," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 32(3), pages 511-528, September.
    18. Robert Jäckle & Oliver Himmler, 2010. "Health and Wages: Panel Data Estimates Considering Selection and Endogeneity," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(2).
    19. Easterlin, Richard A., 2006. "Life cycle happiness and its sources: Intersections of psychology, economics, and demography," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 463-482, August.
    20. Aspen Gorry & Devon Gorry & Sita Nataraj Slavov, 2018. "Does retirement improve health and life satisfaction?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(12), pages 2067-2086, December.
    21. John Knight & Ramani Gunatilaka, 2011. "Does Economic Growth Raise Happiness in China?," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 1-24.
    22. Massimiliano Tani, 2017. "Hukou Changes and Subjective Well-Being in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 47-61, May.
    23. Jiangsheng Chen & Hong Yang, 2016. "Geographical Mobility, Income, Life Satisfaction and Family Size Preferences: An Empirical Study on Rural Households in Shaanxi and Henan Provinces in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(1), pages 277-290, October.
    24. Minjia Chen & Yongnian Zheng, 2008. "China's Regional Disparity and Its Policy Responses," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 16(4), pages 16-32, July.
    25. Huijun Liu & Shuzhuo Li & Marc Feldman, 2013. "Gender in Marriage and Life Satisfaction Under Gender Imbalance in China: The Role of Intergenerational Support and SES," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 915-933, December.
    26. Wenjun Li & Haiyan Sun & Wen Xu & Wenyuan Ma & Xin Yuan & Yaling Niu & Changgui Kou, 2021. "Individual Social Capital and Life Satisfaction among Mainland Chinese Adults: Based on the 2016 China Family Panel Studies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-14, January.
    27. Wim Groot & Henriëtte Van Den Brink, 2002. "Age and Education Differences in Marriages and their Effects on Life Satisfaction," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 153-165, June.
    28. Schalembier, Benjamin & Bleys, Brent & Van Ootegem, Luc & Verhofstadt, Elsy, 2020. "How the income of others affects the life satisfaction of materialists," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 64-74.
    29. Fei Wang & Liqiu Zhao & Zhong Zhao, 2017. "China’s family planning policies and their labor market consequences," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(1), pages 31-68, January.
    30. Ying Liang & Demi Zhu, 2015. "Subjective Well-Being of Chinese Landless Peasants in Relatively Developed Regions: Measurement Using PANAS and SWLS," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 817-835, September.
    31. 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.
    32. Song, Yang, 2014. "What should economists know about the current Chinese hukou system?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 200-212.
    33. Robson Morgan & Fei Wang, 2019. "Well-Being in Transition: Life Satisfaction in Urban China from 2002 to 2012," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(8), pages 2609-2629, December.
    34. Tian, Xu & Zhang, Xiaoheng & Zhou, Yingheng & Yu, Xiaohua, 2016. "Regional income inequality in China revisited: A perspective from club convergence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 50-58.
    35. Wenze Yue & Yuntang Zhang & Xinyue Ye & Yeqing Cheng & Mark R. Leipnik, 2014. "Dynamics of Multi-Scale Intra-Provincial Regional Inequality in Zhejiang, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(9), pages 1-22, August.
    36. Chenghua Guan & Yingjie Qiu & Ruopeng An, 2019. "Relative Income and Life Satisfaction among Chinese Adults," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-12, October.
    37. Yang Chen & Hongsheng Chen & Jinhua Liu, 2019. "Household Split, Income, and Migrants’ Life Satisfaction: Social Problems Caused by Rapid Urbanization in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-12, June.
    38. Hatice Odacı & Özkan Cikrikci, 2019. "Cognitive Flexibility Mediates the Relationship between Big Five Personality Traits and Life Satisfaction," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(5), pages 1229-1246, November.
    39. Martinique Cordeiro & Prudence Kwenda & Miracle Ntuli, 2020. "Crime and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from South Africa - Gauteng Province," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(3), pages 715-736, July.
    40. Sujarwoto Sujarwoto & Gindo Tampubolon & Adi Cilik Pierewan, 2018. "Individual and Contextual Factors of Happiness and Life Satisfaction in a Low Middle Income Country," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 13(4), pages 927-945, December.
    41. Miha Dominko & Miroslav Verbič, 2019. "The Economics of Subjective Well-Being: A Bibliometric Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(6), pages 1973-1994, August.
    42. Wing Chui & Mathew Wong, 2016. "Gender Differences in Happiness and Life Satisfaction Among Adolescents in Hong Kong: Relationships and Self-Concept," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(3), pages 1035-1051, February.
    43. David Coady & Allan Dizioli, 2018. "Income inequality and education revisited: persistence, endogeneity and heterogeneity," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(25), pages 2747-2761, May.
    44. Patrick Flavin & Michael Keane, 2012. "Life Satisfaction and Political Participation: Evidence from the United States," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 63-78, March.
    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. Shu Wang & Jipeng Pei & Kuo Zhang & Dawei Gong & Karlis Rokpelnis & Weicheng Yang & Xiao Yu, 2022. "Does Individuals’ Perception of Wastewater Pollution Decrease Their Self-Rated Health? Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-18, June.

    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. Andrew E. Clark, 2018. "Four Decades of the Economics of Happiness: Where Next?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(2), pages 245-269, June.
    2. Bahadır Dursun & Resul Cesur, 2016. "Transforming lives: the impact of compulsory schooling on hope and happiness," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(3), pages 911-956, July.
    3. Gregor Gonza & Anže Burger, 2017. "Subjective Well-Being During the 2008 Economic Crisis: Identification of Mediating and Moderating Factors," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 1763-1797, December.
    4. Jiawen Ding & Javier Salinas-Jiménez & Maria del Mar Salinas-Jiménez, 2021. "The Impact of Income Inequality on Subjective Well-Being: The Case of China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 845-866, February.
    5. Dong Zhou & Langchuan Peng, 2018. "The Relationship Between the Gender Gap in Subjective Well-Being and Leisure Activities in China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(7), pages 2139-2166, October.
    6. Cordero, Jose M. & Salinas-Jiménez, Javier & Salinas-Jiménez, Mª Mar, 2014. "Assessing the level of happiness across countries: A robust frontier approach," MPRA Paper 57784, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Bruno S. Frey & Anthony Gullo, 2021. "Does Sports Make People Happier, or Do Happy People More Sports?," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 22(4), pages 432-458, May.
    8. Yingzhu Yang & Lexiang Zhao & Feng Cui, 2022. "How Does Public Health Investment Affect Subjective Well-Being? Empirical Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-19, April.
    9. Sarracino, Francesco & O'Connor, Kelsey J. & Ono, Hiroshi, 2019. "Making economic growth and well-being compatible: evidence from Japan," MPRA Paper 93010, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Cordero, José Manuel & Salinas-Jiménez, Javier & Salinas-Jiménez, M Mar, 2017. "Exploring factors affecting the level of happiness across countries: A conditional robust nonparametric frontier analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 256(2), pages 663-672.
    11. Jan Priebe, 2020. "Quasi-experimental evidence for the causal link between fertility and subjective well-being," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 839-882, July.
    12. Shaojie Zhou & Xiaohua Yu, 2017. "Regional Heterogeneity of Life Satisfaction in Urban China: Evidence from Hierarchical Ordered Logit Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 25-45, May.
    13. Takis Venetoklis, 2019. "Do interactions cancel associations of subjective well-being with individual-level socioeconomic characteristics? An exploratory analysis using the European Social Survey," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(6), pages 3033-3061, November.
    14. Nan Zou Bakkeli, 2020. "Older Adults’ Mental Health in China: Examining the Relationship Between Income Inequality and Subjective Wellbeing Using Panel Data Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1349-1383, April.
    15. Grace Carolina Guevara-Rosero & Andrea Gabriela Bonilla-Bolaños, 2021. "Non-pecuniary Effects of Migration Inflows to Ecuador: Is Residents’ Life Satisfaction Affected?," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1243-1270, December.
    16. Tsegay Gebrekidan Tekleselassie, 2017. "Subjective Wellbeing and Institutions: The Case of Rural Ethiopia," Working Papers 016, Policy Studies Institute.
    17. Kapteyn, Arie & Smith, James P. & van Soest, Arthur, 2009. "Life Satisfaction," IZA Discussion Papers 4015, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Jiachang Gao & Yuhan Wang & Mei Zhang & Zenghui Huo, 2022. "Group Heterogeneity of Rural Households’ Satisfaction with Good Life from the Perspective of Rural Revitalization—A Case Study from Zhejiang Province of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, April.
    19. Arie Kapteyn & James P. Smith & Arthur Van Soest, 2009. "Comparing Life Satisfaction," Working Papers WR-623-1, RAND Corporation.
    20. Papageorgiou, Athanasios, 2018. "The Effect of Immigration on the Well-Being of Native Populations: Evidence from the United Kingdom," MPRA Paper 93045, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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:spr:ariqol:v:17:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s11482-021-10031-x. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.