IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/transp/v46y2019i4d10.1007_s11116-017-9848-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Subjective well-being in China: how much does commuting matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Zhenjun Zhu

    (Southeast University)

  • Zhigang Li

    (Wuhan University)

  • Hongsheng Chen

    (Sun Yat-Sen University)

  • Ye Liu

    (Sun Yat-Sen University)

  • Jun Zeng

    (Southeast University)

Abstract

With rapidly increasing urbanization and motorization in China, the effect of commuting on residents’ subjective well-being (SWB) is likely growing. We used 13,261 individual, 124 city, and 401 neighbourhood samples from the 2014 China Labour-Force Dynamics Survey (CLDS 2014) and applied multilevel mixed-effects ordered probit regressions to investigate the relationship between commuting and SWB. We found huge differences between urban and rural areas in relation to commuting. Urban respondents’ daily average commuting time was 0.56 h while rural respondents’ daily average commuting time was 0.41 h. Further, the daily average commute time for residents living in cities with high urbanization rates (> 70%) was longer than for those living in cities with low urbanization rates (

Suggested Citation

  • Zhenjun Zhu & Zhigang Li & Hongsheng Chen & Ye Liu & Jun Zeng, 2019. "Subjective well-being in China: how much does commuting matter?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 1505-1524, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:transp:v:46:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s11116-017-9848-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11116-017-9848-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11116-017-9848-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11116-017-9848-1?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. Abou-Zeid, Maya & Ben-Akiva, Moshe, 2011. "The effect of social comparisons on commute well-being," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 345-361, May.
    2. Ruut Veenhoven, 2015. "Informed Pursuit of Happiness: What we should know, do know and can get to know," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1035-1071, August.
    3. Cecilia Bergstad & Amelie Gamble & Tommy Gärling & Olle Hagman & Merritt Polk & Dick Ettema & Margareta Friman & Lars Olsson, 2011. "Subjective well-being related to satisfaction with daily travel," Transportation, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 1-15, January.
    4. Wang, Bobin & Shao, Chunfu & Ji, Xun, 2017. "Dynamic analysis of holiday travel behaviour with integrated multimodal travel information usage: A life-oriented approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 255-280.
    5. Ed Diener, 1994. "Assessing subjective well-being: Progress and opportunities," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 103-157, February.
    6. Andrew E. Clark & Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields, 2008. "Relative Income, Happiness, and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 95-144, March.
    7. Frey, Bruno S & Stutzer, Alois, 2000. "Happiness, Economy and Institutions," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(466), pages 918-938, October.
    8. Frey, Bruno S. & Stutzer, Alois, 2010. "Recent Advances in the Economics of Individual Subjective Well-Being," Working papers 2010/04, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    9. André Duarte & Camila Garcia & Grigoris Giannarakis & Susana Limão & Amalia Polydoropoulou & Nikolaos Litinas, 2010. "New approaches in transportation planning: happiness and transport economics," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 5-32, April.
    10. Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2008. "Economic Growth and Subjective Well-Being: Reassessing the Easterlin Paradox," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 39(1 (Spring), pages 1-102.
    11. Gerber, Philippe & Ma, Tai-Yu & Klein, Olivier & Schiebel, Julien & Carpentier-Postel, Samuel, 2017. "Cross-border residential mobility, quality of life and modal shift: A Luxembourg case study," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 238-254.
    12. Wheatley, Daniel, 2014. "Travel-to-work and subjective well-being: A study of UK dual career households," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 187-196.
    13. George MacKerron, 2012. "Happiness Economics From 35 000 Feet," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 705-735, September.
    14. John R. Logan & Yiping Fang & Zhanxin Zhang, 2009. "Access to Housing in Urban China," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 914-935, December.
    15. Ricardo Crespo & Belén Mesurado, 2015. "Happiness Economics, Eudaimonia and Positive Psychology: From Happiness Economics to Flourishing Economics," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 931-946, August.
    16. Maya Abou-Zeid & Satoshi Fujii, 2016. "Travel satisfaction effects of changes in public transport usage," Transportation, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 301-314, March.
    17. 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.
    18. Delbosc, Alexa & Nakanishi, Hitomi, 2017. "A life course perspective on the travel of Australian millennials," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 319-336.
    19. Ludwig, Jens & Duncan, Greg J. & Katz, Lawrence F. & Kessler, Ronald & Kling, Jeffrey R. & Gennetian, Lisa A. & Sanbonmatsu, Lisa, 2012. "Neighborhood Effects on the Long-Term Well-Being of Low-Income Adults," Scholarly Articles 11870359, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    20. MacKerron, George & Mourato, Susana, 2009. "Life satisfaction and air quality in London," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1441-1453, March.
    21. Dickerson, Andy & Hole, Arne Risa & Munford, Luke A., 2014. "The relationship between well-being and commuting revisited: Does the choice of methodology matter?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 321-329.
    22. John Knight & Ramani Gunatilaka, 2011. "Does Economic Growth Raise Happiness in China?," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 1-24.
    23. Welsch, Heinz, 2006. "Environment and happiness: Valuation of air pollution using life satisfaction data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 801-813, July.
    24. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger, 2006. "Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 3-24, Winter.
    25. 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.
    26. Ettema, Dick & Gärling, Tommy & Olsson, Lars E. & Friman, Margareta, 2010. "Out-of-home activities, daily travel, and subjective well-being," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(9), pages 723-732, November.
    27. McBride, Michael, 2001. "Relative-income effects on subjective well-being in the cross-section," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 251-278, July.
    28. 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.
    29. Li, Si-ming & Liu, Yi, 2016. "The jobs-housing relationship and commuting in Guangzhou, China: Hukou and dual structure," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 286-294.
    30. Di Tella, Rafael & MacCulloch, Robert, 2008. "Gross national happiness as an answer to the Easterlin Paradox?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 22-42, April.
    31. Lars Olsson & Tommy Gärling & Dick Ettema & Margareta Friman & Satoshi Fujii, 2013. "Happiness and Satisfaction with Work Commute," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 255-263, March.
    32. Linn, Joshua & Wang, Zhongmin & Xie, Lunyu, 2016. "Who will be affected by a congestion pricing scheme in Beijing?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 34-40.
    33. Yu, Biying & Zhang, Junyi & Li, Xia, 2017. "Dynamic life course analysis on residential location choice," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 281-292.
    34. Wang, Donggen & Chai, Yanwei, 2009. "The jobs–housing relationship and commuting in Beijing, China: the legacy of Danwei," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 30-38.
    35. Schwanen, Tim & Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 2005. "What Affects Commute Mode Choice: Neighborhood Physical Structure or Preferences Toward Neighborhoods?," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt4nq9r1c9, University of California Transportation Center.
    36. Easterlin, Richard A. & Angelescu McVey, Laura, 2009. "Happiness and Growth the World Over: Time Series Evidence on the Happiness-Income Paradox," IZA Discussion Papers 4060, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    37. Engels, Benno & Liu, Gang-Jun, 2011. "Social exclusion, location and transport disadvantage amongst non-driving seniors in a Melbourne municipality, Australia," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 984-996.
    38. Pengjun Zhao & Bin Lü & Gert de Roo, 2010. "Urban Expansion and Transportation: The Impact of Urban form on Commuting Patterns on the City Fringe of Beijing," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(10), pages 2467-2486, October.
    39. K. Bruce Newbold & Darren M. Scott & Charles Burke, 2017. "Immigrant status and commute distance: an exploratory study based on the greater Golden Horseshoe," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 181-198, January.
    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. Philippe Gerber & Marius Thériault & Christophe Enaux & Samuel Carpentier-Postel, 2020. "Links between Attitudes, Mode Choice, and Travel Satisfaction: A Cross-Border Long-Commute Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-20, November.
    2. Wang, Xize & Liu, Tao, 2022. "The Roads One Must Walk Down: Commute and Depression for Beijing’s Residents," SocArXiv dj8av, Center for Open Science.
    3. Bin Li & Shaoning Li & Hongjuan Lei & Na Zhao & Chenchen Liu & Jiaxing Fang & Xu Liu & Shaowei Lu & Xiaotian Xu, 2024. "Application of High-Spatial-Resolution Imagery and Deep Learning Algorithms to Spatial Allocation of Urban Parks’ Supply and Demand in Beijing, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-21, July.
    4. Prakash, Kushneel & Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Smyth, Russell, 2020. "Petrol prices and subjective wellbeing," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    5. Zhao, Pengjun & Wan, Jie, 2021. "Land use and travel burden of residents in urban fringe and rural areas: An evaluation of urban-rural integration initiatives in Beijing," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    6. Murong Guo & Kuang Tang & Zicheng Wang, 2020. "Commuting time and sickness absence in China: Rural/urban variations and Hukou impacts," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 31(1), pages 76-95, March.
    7. Wan, Zhengyue & Titheridge, Helena, 2024. "Socially sustainable transport in the context of different-sized cities in China:Conceptualisation and operationalisation of equity," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    8. Mars, Lidón & Arroyo, Rosa & Ruiz, Tomás, 2022. "Mobility and wellbeing during the covid-19 lockdown. Evidence from Spain," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 107-129.
    9. Kumar, Pankaj & Kumar, Parveen & Garg, Ramesh Kumar, 2021. "A study on farmers' satisfaction and happiness after the land sale for urban expansion in India," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    10. Xize Wang & Tao Liu, 2022. "The Roads One Must Walk Down: Commute and Depression for Beijing's Residents," Papers 2207.07990, arXiv.org.
    11. Yanan Gao & Soora Rasouli & Harry Timmermans & Yuanqing Wang, 2024. "A latent class structural equation model of the relationship between travel satisfaction and overall life satisfaction controlling for satisfaction with other life domains," Transportation, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 193-213, February.
    12. Tao, Yinhua & van Ham, Maarten & Petrović, Ana & Ta, Na, 2023. "A household perspective on the commuting paradox: Longitudinal relationships between commuting time and subjective wellbeing for couples in China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    13. Moritz Kersting & Eike Matthies & Jörg Lahner & Jan Schlüter, 2021. "A socioeconomic analysis of commuting professionals," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2127-2158, October.
    14. Jin, Eunae & Kim, Danya & Jin, Jangik, 2022. "Commuting time and perceived stress: Evidence from the intra- and inter-city commuting of young workers in Korea," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).

    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. Lorenz, Olga, 2018. "Does commuting matter to subjective well-being?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 180-199.
    2. Olga Lorenz, 2017. "Does Commuting Matter to Subjective Well-Being?," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201707, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    3. Hajdu, Tamás & Hajdu, Gábor, 2011. "A hasznosság és a relatív jövedelem kapcsolatának vizsgálata magyar adatok segítségével [Examining the relation of utility and relative income using Hungarian data]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 56-73.
    4. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2010. "Happiness: A New Approach in Economics," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 8(4), pages 3-7, 01.
    5. Stutzer, Alois & Frey, Bruno S., 2012. "Recent Developments in the Economics of Happiness: A Selective Overview," IZA Discussion Papers 7078, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Powdthavee, Nattavudh & Stutzer, Alois, 2014. "Economic Approaches to Understanding Change in Happiness," IZA Discussion Papers 8131, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Dickerson, Andy & Hole, Arne Risa & Munford, Luke A., 2014. "The relationship between well-being and commuting revisited: Does the choice of methodology matter?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 321-329.
    8. Odermatt, Reto & Stutzer, Alois, 2017. "Subjective Well-Being and Public Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 11102, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Zhang, Xin & Zhang, Xiaobo & Chen, Xi, 2017. "Happiness in the air: How does a dirty sky affect mental health and subjective well-being?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 81-94.
    10. Badunenko, Oleg & Cordero, Jose M. & Kumbhakar, Subal C., 2021. "Are you slacking? Where do you and your country stand in the happiness pursuit?," MPRA Paper 108316, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Welsch, Heinz, 2009. "Implications of happiness research for environmental economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 2735-2742, September.
    12. Katrin Rehdanz & Welsch Heinz & Daiju Naritaa & Toshihiro Okubod, 2013. "Well-being effects of a major negative externality: The case of Fukushima," Working Papers V-358-13, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2013.
    13. Flèche, Sarah, 2015. "Distaste for centralization: evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in Switzerland," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 64999, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Stutzer, Alois & Frey, Bruno S., 2010. "Recent Advances in the Economics of Individual Subjective Well-Being," IZA Discussion Papers 4850, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Andrew E. Clark & Claudia Senik, 2010. "Will GDP growth increase happiness in developing countries?," PSE Working Papers halshs-00564985, HAL.
    16. Jacopo Baggio & Elissaios Papyrakis, 2014. "Agent-Based Simulations of Subjective Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(2), pages 623-635, January.
    17. Bartolini, Stefano & Sarracino, Francesco, 2014. "Happy for how long? How social capital and economic growth relate to happiness over time," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 242-256.
    18. Leonardo Becchetti & Alessandra Pelloni, 2013. "What are we learning from the life satisfaction literature?," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 60(2), pages 113-155, June.
    19. Zuoxian Gan & Tao Feng & Min Yang, 2018. "Exploring the Effects of Car Ownership and Commuting on Subjective Well-Being: A Nationwide Questionnaire Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    20. Nguyen, Ha & Duncan, Alan, 2015. "Macroeconomic fluctuations in home countries and immigrants’ well-being: New evidence from Down Under," MPRA Paper 69593, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Feb 2016.

    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:kap:transp:v:46:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s11116-017-9848-1. 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.