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Subjective Well-being and its Determinants in Rural China

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Author Info
John Knight
Lina Song
Ramani Gunatilaka

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Abstract

A national household survey for 2002, containing a specially designed module on subjective well-being, is used to estimate pioneering happiness functions in rural China. The variables predicted by economic theory to be important for happiness are relatively unimportant. The analysis suggests that we need to draw on psychology and sociology if we are to understand. Rural China is not a hotbed of dissatisfaction with life, possibly because most people are found to confine their reference groups to the village. Relative income within the village and relative income over time, both in the past and expected in the future, are shown to influence happiness. `Subjective well-being poverty` functions are estimated, in which income and various proxies for `capabilities` and `functionings` appear as arguments. Even amidst the poverty of rural China, social functionings, attitudes and expectations are important to subjective well-being.

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Paper provided by University of Oxford, Department of Economics in its series Economics Series Working Papers with number 334.

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Date of creation: 2007
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Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:334

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Keywords: Happiness Subjective Well-being Aspirations Relative Deprivation Reference Groups Poverty China

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General Welfare

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
  3. Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi & Knight, John, 2007. "Community, comparisons and subjective well-being in a divided society," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 69-90, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. 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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  5. Matthew Rabin, 1998. "Psychology and Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 11-46, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. 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, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
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  8. Geeta Kingdon & John Knight, 2005. "Subjective Well-being Poverty versus Income Poverty and Capabilities Poverty?," Working Papers 9627, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit. [Downloadable!]
  9. Christopher F Baum & Vince Wiggins & Steven Stillman & Mark E Schaffer, 1999. "OVERID: Stata module to calculate tests of overidentifying restrictions after ivreg, ivreg2, ivprobit, ivtobit, reg3," Statistical Software Components S396902, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 07 Jul 2008. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Clark, Andrew E & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Unhappiness and Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 648-59, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Carol Graham & Stefano Pettinato, 2002. "Frustrated achievers: winners, losers and subjective well-being in new market economies," The Journal of Development Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 38(4), pages 100-140, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Pérez Truglia, Ricardo Nicolás, 2007. "Can a rise in income inequality improve welfare?," MPRA Paper 4700, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 22 Dec 2007. [Downloadable!]
  2. Andrew E. Clark & Claudia Senik, 2007. "La croissance rend-elle heureux ? La réponse des données subjectives," PSE Working Papers 2007-06, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  3. Song, Lina & Appleton, Simon, 2008. "Life Satisfaction in Urban China: Components and Determinants," IZA Discussion Papers 3443, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Claudia Senik, 2007. "Income Comparisons. Which Income Gaps Matter Most to People?," PSE Working Papers 2007-19, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
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