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Rural–Urban Living and Level of Economic Development as Factors in Subjective Well-Being

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  • Felix Requena

    (University of Malaga)

Abstract

This article analyses the combined effect on subjective well-being of rural versus urban environments and a country’s level of economic development. There is a great deal of controversy regarding the subjective well-being of people in different places. Fischer’s works report greater happiness among village inhabitants than among urban residents. However, in ‘Urbanism as a way of life’, Wirth demonstrates the attractiveness of the urban environment in contributing to subjective well-being. Our data set includes 29 countries participating in the 2012 ESS. The results confirm the hypothesis that in wealthier countries, rural living standards are high enough to create a higher level of subjective well-being; while in less developed countries the rural environment cannot compete with urban resources for creating subjective well-being.

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  • Felix Requena, 2016. "Rural–Urban Living and Level of Economic Development as Factors in Subjective Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(2), pages 693-708, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:128:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-015-1051-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-015-1051-1
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    1. František Petrovič & Patrik Maturkanič, 2022. "Urban-Rural Dichotomy of Quality of Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    2. Shiwei Lu & Yaping Huang & Xiaoqing Wu & Yichen Ding, 2022. "Evaluation, Recognition and Implications of Urban–Rural Integration Development: A Township-Level Analysis of Hanchuan City in Wuhan Metropolitan Area," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Donghwan Kim, 2018. "Cross-National Pattern of Happiness: Do Higher Education and Less Urbanization Degrade Happiness?," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 13(1), pages 21-35, March.
    4. Fredrik Carlsen & Stefan Leknes, 2022. "For whom are cities good places to live?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(12), pages 2177-2190, December.
    5. Bernard Josef, 2018. "Rural Quality of Life – Poverty, Satisfaction and Opportunity Deprivation in Different Types of Rural Territories," European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 10(2), pages 191-209, June.
    6. Xinyi Wang & F. Atiyya Shaw & Patricia L. Mokhtarian & Giovanni Circella & Kari E. Watkins, 2023. "Combining disparate surveys across time to study satisfaction with life: the effects of study context, sampling method, and transport attributes," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 513-543, April.
    7. Coulibaly, Thierry Yerema & Managi, Shunsuke, 2022. "Populations in slums are happier than rural populations: The case of Mumbai," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    8. Guanghao Wu, 2024. "From Soil to Soul: Agro-Product Geographical Indications and the Subjective Well-Being of Rural Residents," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(6), pages 1-25, August.
    9. Mikko Weckroth & Sanna Ala-Mantila & Dimitris Ballas & Thanasis Ziogas & Jonna Ikonen, 2022. "Urbanity, Neighbourhood Characteristics and Perceived Quality of Life (QoL): Analysis of Individual and Contextual Determinants for Perceived QoL in 3300 Postal Code Areas in Finland," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 139-164, November.
    10. Cristina Bernini & Alessandro Tampieri, 2017. "Urbanization and its Effects on the Happiness Domains," DEM Discussion Paper Series 17-10, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    11. Bednarik, Zuzana, 2023. "The impact of health disparities on the subjective well-being in rural communities," NCR-Stat Discussion Papers 339129, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD).
    12. YOO Sunbin & KUMAGAI Junya & Thierry COULIBALY & MANAGI Shunsuke, 2024. "Postmaterialist Values Contribute to and Alleviate Global Well-being Disparities: Evidence from Gallup World Poll data," Discussion papers 24017, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    13. Fachao Liang & Zehua Wang & Sheng-Hau Lin, 2022. "Can Land Policy Promote Farmers’ Subjective Well-Being? A Study on Withdrawal from Rural Homesteads in Jinjiang, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-17, June.
    14. Haijun Bao & Yan Fang & Qunying Ye & Yi Peng, 2018. "Investigating Social Welfare Change in Urban Village Transformation: A Rural Migrant Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(2), pages 723-743, September.
    15. Cristina Bernini & Silvia Emili & Federica Galli, 2021. "Does urbanization matter in the expenditure‐happiness nexus?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(6), pages 1403-1428, December.
    16. Kreg Lindberg & Christopher Wolsko, 2019. "Assessing Well-Being Factors in a Growing Community: A Multi-Attribute Vignette Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 315-335, July.
    17. Martin Boďa & David Cole & Mária Murray Svidroňová & Jolana Gubalová, 2022. "Prevailing narratives versus reality of a small and medium town decline in a CEE country," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 3113-3145, July.
    18. Manuela Alcañiz & Maria-Carme Riera-Prunera & Aïda Solé-Auró, 2020. "“When I Retire, I’ll Move Out of the City”: Mental Well-being of the Elderly in Rural vs. Urban Settings," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-14, April.
    19. Navarro, María & D'Agostino, Antonella & Neri, Laura, 2020. "The effect of urbanization on subjective well-being: Explaining cross-regional differences," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    20. Biyase, Mduduzi & Naanwaab , Cephas, 2023. "Rural–Urban Differences in Subjective Well-Being for South Africa: Static and Dynamic Approaches," Journal of Economic Development, The Economic Research Institute, Chung-Ang University, vol. 48(1), pages 1-30, March.
    21. Manuela Alcañiz & Maria-Carme Riera-Prunera & Aïda Solé-Auró, 2019. "“Do elderly people living in rural areas enjoy better mental well-being? Evidence from Catalonia, Spain”," IREA Working Papers 201913, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Jul 2019.

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