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Land and Happiness: Land Distribution and Subjective Well-Being in Moldova

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Author Info
Van Landeghem, Bert
Swinnen, Johan
Vranken, Liesbet

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Abstract

The distribution of land rights is a very important economic and political issue, and it played a central role in the transition processes in Europe and Asia. This paper analyzes the impact of the distribution of land on household welfare by using subjective well-being (SWB) data from a rural household survey in Moldova, the poorest country in Europe. The recent land reform in Moldova provides a natural experiment on the impact of land ownership distribution on SWB. We find that household land holdings have a positive effect on SWB but neighbours’ average land holdings have a negative effect on SWB. People, regardless of the land distribution and even given the relatively low living standards of these households, rate their welfare by looking at how much other people possess. The findings of the paper have more general implications as it is one of the first attempts to measure the impact of wealth, rather than income, on SWB.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by European Association of Agricultural Economists in its series 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium with number 44375.

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Date of creation: 2008
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Handle: RePEc:ags:eaae08:44375

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Keywords: Land Economics/Use;

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  10. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2007. "Is Well-Being U-Shaped over the Life Cycle?," IZA Discussion Papers 3075, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  11. Lin, Justin Yifu, 1992. "Rural Reforms and Agricultural Growth in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 34-51, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Ravallion, Martin & Lokshin, Michael, 2001. "Identifying Welfare Effects from Subjective Questions," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 68(271), pages 335-57, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Scott Rozelle & Johan F. M. Swinnen, 2004. "Success and Failure of Reform: Insights from the Transition of Agriculture," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(2), pages 404-456, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Johan F. M. Swinnen, 1999. "The political economy of land reform choices in Central and Eastern Europe," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 7(3), pages 637-664, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  23. Rafael Di Tella & Robert MacCulloch, 2006. "Some Uses of Happiness Data in Economics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  24. Johan Swinnen & Ayo Heinegg, 2002. "On the Political Economy of Land Reforms in the Former Soviet Union," LICOS Discussion Papers 11502, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, K.U.Leuven. [Downloadable!]
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  25. North, Douglass C., 1989. "Institutions and economic growth: An historical introduction," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(9), pages 1319-1332, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  29. Vranken, Liesbet & Swinnen, Johan, 2006. "Land rental markets in transition: Theory and evidence from Hungary," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 481-500, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  30. Namazie, Ceema & Sanfey, Peter, 2001. "Happiness and Transition: The Case of Kyrgyzstan," Review of Development Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 5(3), pages 392-405, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  32. Claudia Senik, 2008. "Ambition and Jealousy: Income Interactions in the 'Old' Europe versus the 'New' Europe and the United States," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 75(299), pages 495-513, 08. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  33. repec:bep:eapadv:v:5:y:2005:i:1:p:1412-1412 is not listed on IDEAS
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  34. Erzo F. P. Luttmer, 2005. "Neighbors as Negatives: Relative Earnings and Well-Being," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 120(3), pages 963-1002, August.
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