In this paper we employ World Values Survey measures of life satisfaction as though they were direct measures of utility, and use them to evaluate alternative features and forms of government in large international samples. We find that life satisfaction is more closely linked to several World Bank measures of the quality of government than to real per capita incomes, in simple correlations and more fully specified models explaining international differences in life satisfaction. We test for differences in the relative importance of different aspects of good government, and find a hierarchy of preferences that depends on the level of development. The ability of governments to provide a trustworthy environment, and to deliver services honestly and efficiently, appears to be of paramount importance for countries with worse governance and lower incomes. The balance changes once acceptable levels of efficiency, trust and incomes are achieved, when more value is attached to building and maintaining the institutions of electoral democracy.
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
11988.
Length: Date of creation: Jan 2006 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11988
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Find related papers by JEL classification: H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General Welfare P52 - Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Studies of Particular Economies
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