IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v26y2025i2d10.1007_s10902-024-00842-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Spatial Determinants of Life Satisfaction on the Aquitaine Coast: A Geographically-Weighted Regression Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Jean-Christophe Dissart

    (Univ. Grenoble Alpes)

  • Vanessa Kuentz-Simonet

    (INRAE Nouvelle-Aquitaine Bordeaux)

Abstract

This article explores the determinants of life satisfaction in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. We use the capability approach as the theoretical framework of the research, which enables us to select variables that reflect freedom of access to leisure activities, everyday life services and mobility. We also focus on place by taking account of amenities. Using Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) on data from 1,039 questionnaires completed in 2021, measures of life satisfaction are regressed locally on synthetic variables that reflect place-based capabilities and amenities, and control variables that reflect more general socio-economic conditions. Empirical results show that though life satisfaction levels are generally high across the study area, space does play a role in explaining those levels as the most contributing variables differ from one area to another. In particular, all synthetic variables of place-based capabilities and amenities contribute to well-being variation, as well as household economic situation and housing condition, which reflect broader capabilities. Therefore, capability- and amenity-related variables largely explain life satisfaction, and GWR captures spatial differentiation.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean-Christophe Dissart & Vanessa Kuentz-Simonet, 2025. "Spatial Determinants of Life Satisfaction on the Aquitaine Coast: A Geographically-Weighted Regression Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 1-25, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:26:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10902-024-00842-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-024-00842-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-024-00842-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-024-00842-8?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. Kubiszewski, Ida & Jarvis, Diane & Zakariyya, Nabeeh, 2019. "Spatial variations in contributors to life satisfaction: An Australian case study," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Schaeffer, Y. & Dissart, J.-C., 2018. "Natural and Environmental Amenities: A Review of Definitions, Measures and Issues," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 475-496.
    3. Fleurbaey, Marc & Blanchet, Didier, 2013. "Beyond GDP: Measuring Welfare and Assessing Sustainability," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199767199, Decembrie.
    4. Gollini, Isabella & Lu, Binbin & Charlton, Martin & Brunsdon, Christopher & Harris, Paul, 2015. "GWmodel: An R Package for Exploring Spatial Heterogeneity Using Geographically Weighted Models," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 63(i17).
    5. Mohsen Joshanloo & Veljko Jovanović & Tim Taylor, 2019. "A multidimensional understanding of prosperity and well-being at country level: Data-driven explorations," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-31, October.
    6. Chavent, Marie & Kuentz-Simonet, Vanessa & Liquet, Benoît & Saracco, Jérôme, 2012. "ClustOfVar: An R Package for the Clustering of Variables," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 50(i13).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Zhenshan Yang & Runde Fu & Jiang Zhu & Dongqi Sun, 2024. "Multidimensional assessment of regional inequality toward sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 392-403, February.
    2. Antoinette Baujard & Muriel Gilardone, 2017. "Sen is not a capability theorist," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 1-19, January.
    3. Andrew E. Clark, 2015. "SWB as a Measure of Individual Well-Being," Working Papers halshs-01134483, HAL.
    4. Ida Kubiszewski & Kenneth Mulder & Diane Jarvis & Robert Costanza, 2022. "Toward better measurement of sustainable development and wellbeing: A small number of SDG indicators reliably predict life satisfaction," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 139-148, February.
    5. Marc Fleurbaey & Rossi Abi-Rafeh, 2016. "The Use of Distributional Weights in Benefit–Cost Analysis: Insights from Welfare Economics," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 10(2), pages 286-307.
    6. Fusco, Elisa, 2023. "Potential improvements approach in composite indicators construction: The Multi-directional Benefit of the Doubt model," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    7. Hammitt, James K., 2022. "Prevention, treatment, and palliative care: The relative value of health improvements under alternative evaluation frameworks," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    8. Marc Fleurbaey & Ravi Kanbur & Dennis Snower, 2025. "Efficiency and equity in a socially-embedded economy," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 79(1), pages 1-56, February.
    9. Gainbi Park & Zengwang Xu, 2022. "The constituent components and local indicator variables of social vulnerability index," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 110(1), pages 95-120, January.
    10. Zaijun Li & Jianquan Cheng & Qiyan Wu, 2016. "Analyzing regional economic development patterns in a fast developing province of China through geographically weighted principal component analysis," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 233-245, October.
    11. Andréia S. Santos & Lucas Teles Faria & Mara Lúcia M. Lopes & Carlos R. Minussi, 2023. "Power Distribution Systems’ Vulnerability by Regions Caused by Electrical Discharges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-19, November.
    12. Koen Decancq & Marc Fleurbaey & Erik Schokkaert, 2015. "Happiness, Equivalent Incomes and Respect for Individual Preferences," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 82, pages 1082-1106, December.
    13. Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D’Ambrosio & Simone Ghislandi, 2016. "Adaptation to Poverty in Long-Run Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(3), pages 591-600, July.
    14. Kirtonia, Sajeeb & Sun, Yanshuo, 2022. "Evaluating rail transit's comparative advantages in travel cost and time over taxi with open data in two U.S. cities," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 75-87.
    15. H. Xavier Jara & Erik Schokkaert, 2017. "Putting measures of individual well-being to use for ex-ante policy evaluation," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 15(4), pages 421-440, December.
    16. Alexis Comber & Paul Harris, 2018. "Geographically weighted elastic net logistic regression," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 317-341, October.
    17. Jean-Marc Germain, 2023. "Beyond GDP: A Welfare-Based Estimate of Growth for 14 European Countries and the USA Over Past Decades," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 539, pages 3-25.
    18. Kyriaki Glyptou & Nikos Kalogeras & Dimitrios Skuras & Ioannis Spilanis, 2022. "Clustering Sustainable Destinations: Empirical Evidence from Selected Mediterranean Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-21, May.
    19. Alpaslan Akay & Olivier B. Bargain & H. Xavier Jara, 2023. "Experienced versus decision utility: large‐scale comparison for income–leisure preferences," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 125(4), pages 823-859, October.
    20. Yigong Hu & Binbin Lu & Yong Ge & Guanpeng Dong, 2022. "Uncovering spatial heterogeneity in real estate prices via combined hierarchical linear model and geographically weighted regression," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(6), pages 1715-1740, July.

    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:spr:jhappi:v:26:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10902-024-00842-8. 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.