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Does Joining the EU Make You Happy? Evidence from Bulgaria and Romania

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  • Nikolova, Milena

    (University of Groningen)

  • Nikolaev, Boris

    (Colorado State University)

Abstract

We examine the effect of joining the European Union on individual life satisfaction in Bulgaria and Romania in the context of the 2007 EU enlargement. Although EU membership is among the most important events in Bulgaria and Romania's modern histories, there is no evidence on how it affected the subjective well-being of ordinary people in the two countries. Using a difference-in-differences strategy and Eurobarometer data, we provide the first evidence that joining the EU increased average life satisfaction in Bulgaria and had a positive but statistically insignificant effect in Romania. One explanation is that trust towards the EU increased only in Bulgaria but not in Romania after both countries joined in 2007. Furthermore, Romania's political war of 2007 may have mired the country's positive life satisfaction experiences related to EU membership. We also show that the younger, the employed, and those with a high-school education were the winners from EU integration. Our results are robust to two placebo tests, in which we use two fake entry dates to the EU, and to an estimation using bootstrapped standard errors. Our findings have implications for EU integration policy and future enlargements.

Suggested Citation

  • Nikolova, Milena & Nikolaev, Boris, 2016. "Does Joining the EU Make You Happy? Evidence from Bulgaria and Romania," IZA Discussion Papers 9636, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9636
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Alexander Libman & Olga Popova, 2023. "Children of Communism: Former Party Membership and the Demand for Redistribution," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(3), pages 199-237, May.
    3. Annika B. Bergbauer, 2019. "How Did EU Membership of Eastern Europe Affect Student Achievement?," ifo Working Paper Series 299, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    4. Bergbauer, Annika B., 2019. "How did EU membership of Eastern Europe affect student achievement?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 27(6), pages 624-644.
    5. Otrachshenko, Vladimir & Nikolova, Milena & Popova, Olga, 2021. "Double-Edged Sword: Persistent Effects of Communism on Life Satisfaction," IZA Discussion Papers 14712, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Luca Andriani & Gaygysyz Ashyrov, 2022. "Corruption and life satisfaction: Evidence from a transition survey," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(4), pages 511-535, November.
    7. Vladimir Otrachshenko & Milena Nikolova & Olga Popova, 2023. "Double-edged sword: persistent effects of Communist regime affiliations on well-being and preferences," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1139-1185, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    difference-in-differences; subjective well-being; happiness; transition economies; EU enlargement; European Union;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • I39 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Other
    • P20 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - General

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