IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v118y2014i3p1249-1267.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Influence of Prudential Value on the Subjective Well-Being of Chinese Urban–Rural Residents

Author

Listed:
  • Ying Liang
  • Peigang Wang

Abstract

The perspective of previous studies on subjective well-being (SWB) is mainly in terms of utility, demand and capacity, among others. However, the understanding of SWB is not sufficiently comprehensive and systematic. In this study, we used survey data from Chinese General Social Survey and studied the SWB of Chinese urban–rural residents from the perspective of prudential value, an integrated prudential value perspective that is “value”-oriented, multidimensional, social, inter-subjective, and interdisciplinary. We also made a scientific and effective layered control for SWB variables. Different types of variables were progressively overlaid to establish five related comparability study models. Linear regression analysis method was used to obtain reliable results. We then derived substantive conclusions based on the differences in SWB (i.e., degree of life satisfaction and life happiness) of China urban–rural residents. We found that the lack of education, medical, employment and other related social security systems significantly influences the degree of life satisfaction and happiness of urban–rural residents rather than differences between urban–rural households. The lack of basic systems prevented residents from fulfilling their basic needs and undermined their own sense of dignity. As long as the socio-economic status and prudential recognition of urban–rural residents remain under equal conditions, happiness between urban and rural residents does not differ significantly. Therefore, to better solve the current social issues and further improve the quality of life of Chinese residents, we propose suggestions for government on the policies that coordinate urban and rural development. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Ying Liang & Peigang Wang, 2014. "Influence of Prudential Value on the Subjective Well-Being of Chinese Urban–Rural Residents," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(3), pages 1249-1267, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:118:y:2014:i:3:p:1249-1267
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-013-0471-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11205-013-0471-z
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-013-0471-z?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. McBride, Michael, 2010. "Money, happiness, and aspirations: An experimental study," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 74(3), pages 262-276, June.
    2. KNIGHT, John & SONG, Lina & GUNATILAKA, Ramani, 2009. "Subjective well-being and its determinants in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 635-649, December.
    3. Jiang, Shiqing & Lu, Ming & Sato, Hiroshi, 2012. "Identity, Inequality, and Happiness: Evidence from Urban China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 1190-1200.
    4. Akay, Alpaslan & Bargain, Olivier & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2012. "Relative concerns of rural-to-urban migrants in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 421-441.
    5. Angner, Erik, 2010. "Subjective well-being," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 361-368, June.
    6. Easterlin, Richard A. & Angelescu, Laura & Zweig, Jacqueline S., 2011. "The Impact of Modern Economic Growth on Urban–Rural Differences in Subjective Well-Being," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 2187-2198.
    7. Mozaffar Qizilbash, 1997. "Needs, Incommensurability and Well-being," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 261-276.
    8. Hilke Brockmann & Jan Delhey & Christian Welzel & Hao Yuan, 2009. "The China Puzzle: Falling Happiness in a Rising Economy," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 387-405, August.
    9. John Knight & Ramani Gunatilaka, 2011. "Does Economic Growth Raise Happiness in China?," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 1-24.
    10. Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada & Gowdy, John M., 2007. "Environmental degradation and happiness," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 509-516, January.
    11. Qizilbash, Mozaffar, 1997. "Pluralism and well-being indices," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(12), pages 2009-2026, December.
    12. Qizilbash, Mozaffar, 1998. "The Concept of Well-Being," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 51-73, April.
    13. Frijters, Paul & Liu, Amy Y.C. & Meng, Xin, 2012. "Are optimistic expectations keeping the Chinese happy?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 159-171.
    14. Barry Naughton, 2007. "The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262640643, December.
    15. Easterlin, Richard A. & Morgan, Robson & Switek, Maggie & Wang, Fei, 2013. "China's Life Satisfaction, 1990-2010," IZA Discussion Papers 7196, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Knight, John & Gunatilaka, Ramani, 2010. "Great Expectations? The Subjective Well-being of Rural-Urban Migrants in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 113-124, January.
    17. Liu, Zhiqiang & Shang, Qingyan, 2012. "Individual well-being in urban China: The role of income expectations," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 833-849.
    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. Jidong Yang & Kai Liu & Yiran Zhang, 2019. "Happiness Inequality in China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(8), pages 2747-2771, December.
    2. Xuechen Leng & Jinfeng Han & Yingcan Zheng & Xiaoyong Hu & Hong Chen, 2021. "The Role of a “Happy Personality” in the Relationship of Subjective Social Status and Domain-Specific Satisfaction in China," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(4), pages 1733-1751, August.
    3. Yixuan Liu & Liumeng Li & Guomei Miao & Xinyan Yang & Yinghui Wu & Yanling Xu & Yonghong Gao & Yongzhi Zhan & Yiwei Zhong & Shujuan Yang, 2021. "Relationship between Children’s Intergenerational Emotional Support and Subjective Well-Being among Middle-Aged and Elderly People in China: The Mediation Role of the Sense of Social Fairness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Kai Liu & Xianghong Wang, 2017. "Relative Income and Income Satisfaction: An Experimental Study," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 395-409, May.
    5. Yu Zhang & Hanyang Cao & Wang Zhang & Yating Wang, 2023. "How Digital Skills Influence on Digital Participation in China? The Mediating Roles of Online Interpersonal Communication and Online Immersion," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    6. Yang, Jidong & Liu, Kai & Zhang, Yiran, 2015. "Happiness Inequality in China," MPRA Paper 66623, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Ying Liang, 2015. "Correlations Between Health-Related Quality of Life and Interpersonal Trust: Comparisons Between Two Generations of Chinese Rural-to-Urban Migrants," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 677-700, September.
    8. Qiu Cheng & Kinglun Ngok, 2020. "Welfare Attitudes Towards Anti-poverty Policies in China: Economical Individualism, Social Collectivism and Institutional Differences," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 150(2), pages 679-694, July.
    9. Tani, Massimiliano, 2015. "Hukou Changes and Subjective Well-Being," IZA Discussion Papers 9451, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Jin, Yuchang & Li, Zinan & An, Junxiu, 2020. "Impact of education on Chinese urban and rural subjective well-being," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    11. Ying Liang & Demi Zhu, 2015. "Subjective Well-Being of Chinese Landless Peasants in Relatively Developed Regions: Measurement Using PANAS and SWLS," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 817-835, September.

    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. Asadullah, M. Niaz & Xiao, Saizi & Yeoh, Emile, 2018. "Subjective well-being in China, 2005–2010: The role of relative income, gender, and location," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 83-101.
    2. Xiaoyan Lei & Yan Shen & James P. Smith & Guangsu Zhou, 2018. "Life satisfaction in China and consumption and income inequalities," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 75-95, March.
    3. Qianping Ren & Maoliang Ye, 2017. "Donations Make People Happier: Evidence from the Wenchuan Earthquake," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 517-536, May.
    4. Zhiming Cheng & Vinod Mishra & Ingrid Nielsen & Russell Smyth & Ben Zhe Wang, 2017. "Wellbeing in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 1-10, May.
    5. Wang-Sheng Lee & Zhong Zhao, 2017. "Height, Weight and Well-Being for Rural, Urban and Migrant Workers in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 117-136, May.
    6. Huaxing Liu & Hong Gao & Qing Huang, 2020. "Better Government, Happier Residents? Quality of Government and Life Satisfaction in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(3), pages 971-990, February.
    7. Dufhues, Thomas & Möllers, Judith & Jantsch, Antje & Buchenrieder, Gertrud & Camfield, Laura, 2023. "Don’t look up! Individual income comparisons and subjective well-being of students in Thailand," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 477-503.
    8. Vanessa Sha Fan & Renuka Mahadevan, 2019. "The Role of Social Capital and Remote Chinese Villagers’ Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 1109-1128, June.
    9. Vinod Mishra & Ingrid Nielsen & Russell Smyth, 2014. "How Does Relative Income and Variations in Short-Run Wellbeing Affect Wellbeing in the Long Run? Empirical Evidence From China’s Korean Minority," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(1), pages 67-91, January.
    10. Wang, Dazhe & Qian, Wenrong & Guo, Xiaolin, 2019. "Gains and losses: Does farmland acquisition harm farmers’ welfare?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 78-90.
    11. Zhiming Cheng & Haining Wang & Russell Smyth, 2014. "Happiness and job satisfaction in urban China: A comparative study of two generations of migrants and urban locals," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(10), pages 2160-2184, August.
    12. John Knight, 2015. "The Principal-Agent Problem, Economic Growth, Subjective Wellbeing and Social Instability: China’s Effective but Flawed Governance," Economics Series Working Papers 758, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    13. Alpaslan Akay & Lisa Andersson & Peter Martinsson & Haileselassie Medhin, 2014. "Positional Concerns among the Poor: Does Reference Group Matter? Evidence from Survey Experiments," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 23(5), pages 673-699.
    14. Zheng Fang, 2017. "Panel Quantile Regressions and the Subjective Well-Being in Urban China: Evidence from RUMiC Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 11-24, May.
    15. Li, Linyang, 2018. "Financial inclusion and poverty: The role of relative income," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 165-191.
    16. Jiayuan Li & John Raine, 2014. "The Time Trend of Life Satisfaction in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 116(2), pages 409-427, April.
    17. Shaojie Zhou & Xiaohua Yu, 2017. "Regional Heterogeneity of Life Satisfaction in Urban China: Evidence from Hierarchical Ordered Logit Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 25-45, May.
    18. Knight, John, 2013. "The economic causes and consequences of social instability in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 17-26.
    19. Zhang, Quanda & Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa, 2020. "Income inequality and subjective wellbeing: Panel data evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    20. Jiawen Ding & Javier Salinas-Jiménez & Maria del Mar Salinas-Jiménez, 2021. "The Impact of Income Inequality on Subjective Well-Being: The Case of China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 845-866, February.

    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:soinre:v:118:y:2014:i:3:p:1249-1267. 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.