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Money, Trust and Happiness in Transition Countries: Evidence from Time Series

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  • BARTOLINI Stefano
  • MIKUCKA Malgorzata
  • SARRACINO Francesco

Abstract

The evolution over time of subjective well-being (SWB) in transition countries exhibit some peculiarities: greater variations which are more strongly correlated with the trends of GDP relative to other countries. What is the possible role of social trust in predicting such variations? We compare the capacity of the trends of GDP and of social trust to predict the trends of SWB. We find that the strength of the relationship between social trust and SWB over the medium-term is comparable to that of GDP. Our conclusion is that in the medium-term, even in countries considered as an extreme case of relevance of material concerns for well-being, social trust is a powerful predictor of the evolution over time of SWB. However, in the short run the relationship between social trust and SWB does not hold and GDP stands out as the only significant correlate of SWB.

Suggested Citation

  • BARTOLINI Stefano & MIKUCKA Malgorzata & SARRACINO Francesco, 2012. "Money, Trust and Happiness in Transition Countries: Evidence from Time Series," LISER Working Paper Series 2012-04, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    • Handle: RePEc:irs:cepswp:2012-04
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    2. Michal Brzezinski, 2019. "Diagnosing Unhappiness Dynamics: Evidence from Poland and Russia," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(7), pages 2291-2327, October.
    3. Nikolova, Milena & Roman, Monica & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2017. "Left behind but doing good? Civic engagement in two post-socialist countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 658-684.
    4. Mikucka, Malgorzata & Sarracino, Francesco & Dubrow, Joshua K., 2017. "When Does Economic Growth Improve Life Satisfaction? Multilevel Analysis of the Roles of Social Trust and Income Inequality in 46 Countries, 1981–2012," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 447-459.
    5. Francesco Sarracino & Marcin Piekałkiewicz, 2021. "The Role of Income and Social Capital for Europeans’ Well-Being During the 2008 Economic Crisis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1583-1610, April.
    6. Nie, Peng & Wang, Lu & Dragone, Davide & Lu, Haiyang & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2022. "“The better you feel, the harder you fall”: Health perception biases and mental health among Chinese adults during the COVID-19 pandemic," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    7. Francesco Sarracino & Marcin Piekałkiewicz, 0. "The Role of Income and Social Capital for Europeans’ Well-Being During the 2008 Economic Crisis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-28.
    8. Jiří Večerník & Martina Mysíková, 2014. "(Un)happy transition? Subjective Well-being in European Countries in 1991-2008 and Beyond," WIFO Working Papers 467, WIFO.
    9. 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.
    10. Nikolova, Milena, 2016. "Minding the happiness gap: Political institutions and perceived quality of life in transition," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 45(S), pages 129-148.
    11. Huiyu Zhang & Ying Dai & Huimei Liu, 2021. "English Proficiency and Happiness: The Mediation of Income Satisfaction and Leisure Satisfaction and the Moderation of the National Economy," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, October.
    12. Ekaterina Skoglund, 2017. "The happiness gap between transition and non-transition countries," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 357-357, May.
    13. Lewczuk Anna, 2018. "Empowerment Rights and Happiness Gap in Post-socialist Countries," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 5(52), pages 270-295, January.
    14. Christoph Glatz & Anja Eder, 2020. "Patterns of Trust and Subjective Well-Being Across Europe: New Insights from Repeated Cross-Sectional Analyses Based on the European Social Survey 2002–2016," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 417-439, April.
    15. Haiyang Lu & Peishan Tong & Rong Zhu, 2020. "Longitudinal Evidence on Social Trust and Happiness in China: Causal Effects and Mechanisms," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 1841-1858, June.
    16. Francesco Sarracino & Małgorzata Mikucka, 2019. "Consume More, Work Longer, and Be Unhappy: Possible Social Roots of Economic Crisis?," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(1), pages 59-84, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Easterlin paradox; GDP; economic growth; subjective well-being; happiness; life satisfaction; social capital; time-series; short run; transition countries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • P27 - Economic Systems - - Socialist Systems and Transition Economies - - - Performance and Prospects
    • P50 - Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - General

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