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Exploring Determinants of Subjective Wellbeing in OECD Countries: Evidence from the World Value Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah Fleche

    (OECD)

  • Conal Smith

    (OECD)

  • Piritta Sorsa

    (OECD)

Abstract

The paper explores issues with assessing wellbeing in OECD countries based on self-reported life satisfaction surveys in a pooled regression over time and countries, at the country level and the OECD average. The results, which are in line with previous studies of subjective wellbeing, show that, apart from income, the state of health, not being unemployed, and social relationships are particularly important for wellbeing with only some differences across countries. The results also show that cultural differences are not major drivers of differences in life satisfaction. Correlations between the rankings of measures of life satisfaction and other indicators of wellbeing such as the Human Development Index and Better Life Index are also relatively high. Measures of subjective wellbeing can play an important part in informing policy makers of progress with wellbeing in general, or what seems to matter for wellbeing— health, being employed and social contacts-- beyond income. Examen des déterminants subjectifs du bien-être dans les pays de l'OCDE : une caractérisation basée sur le World Values Survey Ce document examine les questions liées à l’évaluation du bien-être dans les pays de l'OCDE à partir d’enquêtes de satisfaction de la vie auto-déclarée dans une régression sur un panel de pays avec une dimension temporelle, au niveau des pays et de la moyenne de l'OCDE. Les résultats, similaires à ceux d’études antérieures sur le bien-être subjectif, montrent que, en dehors de revenu, l'état de santé, ne pas être au chômage, et les relations sociales sont particulièrement importantes pour le bien-être, avec des différences limitées entre les pays. Les résultats montrent également que les différences culturelles ne sont pas les principaux facteurs de différences dans la satisfaction de la vie. Les corrélations entre les classements des mesures de satisfaction de la vie et d'autres indicateurs de bien-être tels que l'Indice de développement humain et l'Indice Vivre mieux sont également relativement élevées. Les mesures du bienêtre subjectif peuvent jouer un rôle important en informant les décideurs sur les progrès en termes de bienêtre en général, ou sur ce qui semble contribuer au bien-être – la santé, être employé et les contacts sociaux – au-delà des revenus.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Fleche & Conal Smith & Piritta Sorsa, 2012. "Exploring Determinants of Subjective Wellbeing in OECD Countries: Evidence from the World Value Survey," OECD Statistics Working Papers 2012/1, OECD Publishing.
  • Handle: RePEc:oec:stdaaa:2012/1-en
    DOI: 10.1787/5k9ffc6p1rvb-en
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Cum stai cu...starea de bine?
      by Alina Botezat in Alina Botezat Blog on 2012-05-23 14:49:00

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Andy Bertsch & Gillian Warner-Søderholm, 2013. "Exploring Societal Cultural Values and Human Rights and Development," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(3), pages 21582440135, September.
    2. 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.
    3. Pascal Godefroy & Stéfan Lollivier, 2014. "Satisfaction et qualité de vie," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 469(1), pages 199-232.
    4. Pablo Diego-Rosell & Robert Tortora & James Bird, 2018. "International Determinants of Subjective Well-Being: Living in a Subjectively Material World," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 123-143, January.
    5. Romina Boarini & Margherita Comola & Femke Keulenaer & Robert Manchin & Conal Smith, 2013. "Can Governments Boost People’s Sense of Well-Being? The Impact of Selected Labour Market and Health Policies on Life Satisfaction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(1), pages 105-120, October.
    6. Arnaud Joskin, 2018. "Working Paper 02-18 - Mesurer le bien-être en Belgique - Construction d’un indicateur composite pour mesurer le bien-être actuel des Belges [Working Paper 02-18 - Het welzijn in België meten - Opbo," Working Papers 1802, Federal Planning Bureau, Belgium.
    7. Nicola Pontarollo & Mercy Orellana & Joselin Segovia, 2020. "The Determinants of Subjective Well-Being in a Developing Country: The Ecuadorian Case," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 3007-3035, December.
    8. Nathalie Billaudeau & Stephanie Alexander & Louise Magnard & Sofia Temam & Marie-Noël Vercambre, 2022. "What Levers to Promote Teachers’ Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond: Lessons Learned from a 2021 Online Study in Six Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-17, July.
    9. Christian Kroll, 2015. "Global Development and Happiness: How Can Data on Subjective Well-Being Inform Development Theory and Practice?," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(3), pages 281-309, September.
    10. Jennifer Brown & Ronald MacDonald & Richard Mitchell, 2015. "Are People Who Participate in Cultural Activities More Satisfied with Life?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 135-146, May.
    11. Arnaud Joskin, 2017. "Working Paper 04-17 - Qu’est-ce qui compte pour les Belges ? Analyse des déterminants du bien-être individuel en Belgique [Working Paper 04-17 - Wat telt voor de Belgen? Analyse van de determinante," Working Papers 1704, Federal Planning Bureau, Belgium.
    12. Rebecca J. Jarden & Mohsen Joshanloo & Dan Weijers & Margaret H. Sandham & Aaron J. Jarden, 2022. "Predictors of Life Satisfaction in New Zealand: Analysis of a National Dataset," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-17, May.
    13. Sarracino, Francesco & Gosset, Andrea, 2015. "The non-economic outcomes of social entrepreneurship in Luxembourg," MPRA Paper 69347, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Alexandra Cristina Sãžrbu & Mircea Asandului, 2021. "Determinants Of Subjective Well-Being Among Romanian Older Adults," Review of Economic and Business Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 28, pages 111-124, December.
    15. Yenniel Mendoza & Roger Loyola & Alonso Aguilar & Roberto Escalante, 2019. "Valuation of Air Quality in Chile: The Life Satisfaction Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 367-387, August.
    16. Siu Ming Chan & Hung Wong, 2022. "Housing and Subjective Well-Being in Hong Kong: A Structural Equation Model," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 1745-1766, June.
    17. Andre P. Audette & Sean Lam & Haley O’Connor & Benjamin Radcliff, 2019. "(E)Quality of Life: A Cross-National Analysis of the Effect of Gender Equality on Life Satisfaction," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(7), pages 2173-2188, October.
    18. G. Ribes-Giner & I. Moya-Clemente & R. Cervelló-Royo & M. R. Perello-Marin, 2019. "Wellbeing indicators affecting female entrepreneurship in OECD countries," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 915-933, March.
    19. Monica Răileanu-Szeles, 2015. "Explaining the Dynamics and Drivers of Financial Well-Being in the European Union," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 120(3), pages 701-722, February.
    20. M. Hussain, 2014. "The Robustness of High Danish National Happiness: A Temporal Cross-Country Analysis of Population Subgroups," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 759-774, September.
    21. Ngamaba, Kayonda Hubert & Armitage, Christopher & Panagioti, Maria & Hodkinson, Alexander, 2020. "How closely related are financial satisfaction and subjective well-being? Systematic review and meta-analysis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    bien-être; comparative studies; etudes comparatives; health; santé; welfare; well-being;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • P52 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Studies of Particular Economies

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