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Subjective Well-being and its Determinants in Rural China

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Author Info
John Knight
Lina Song
Ramani Gunatilaka

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Abstract

A national household survey for 2002, containing a specially designed module on subjective well-being, is used to estimate pioneering happiness functions in rural China. The variables predicted by economic theory to be important for happiness are relatively unimportant. The analysis suggests that we need to draw on psychology and sociology if we are to understand. Rural China is not a hotbed of dissatisfaction with life, possibly because most people are found to confine their reference groups to the village. Relative income within the village and relative income over time, both in the past and expected in the future, are shown to influence happiness. `Subjective well-being poverty` functions are estimated, in which income and various proxies for `capabilities` and `functionings` appear as arguments. Even amidst the poverty of rural China, social functionings, attitudes and expectations are important to subjective well-being.

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Paper provided by University of Oxford, Department of Economics in its series Economics Series Working Papers with number 334.

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Date of creation: 2007
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Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:334

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Related research
Keywords: Happiness; Subjective Well-being; Aspirations; Relative Deprivation; Reference Groups; Poverty; China;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General Welfare

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
  2. Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi & Knight, John, 2007. "Community, comparisons and subjective well-being in a divided society," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 69-90, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
    Other versions:
  4. Christopher F Baum & Vince Wiggins & Steven Stillman & Mark E Schaffer, 1999. "OVERID: Stata module to calculate tests of overidentifying restrictions after ivreg, ivreg2, ivprobit, ivtobit, reg3," Statistical Software Components S396902, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 07 Jul 2008. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Sen, Amartya, 1983. "Poor, Relatively Speaking," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 35(2), pages 153-69, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Carol Graham & Stefano Pettinato, 2002. "Frustrated achievers: winners, losers and subjective well-being in new market economies," The Journal of Development Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 38(4), pages 100-140, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Matthew Rabin, 1998. "Psychology and Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 11-46, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Paul Frijters, 2004. "How Important is Methodology for the estimates of the determinants of Happiness?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(497), pages 641-659, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Geeta Kingdon & John Knight, 2005. "Subjective Well-being Poverty versus Income Poverty and Capabilities Poverty?," Working Papers 9627, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit. [Downloadable!]
  14. Hirschman, Albert O., 1973. "The changing tolerance for income inequality in the course of economic development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 1(12), pages 29-36, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Andrew E. Clark, 2008. "Happiness, habits and high rank: Comparisons in economic and social life," PSE Working Papers 2008-61, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  2. Valentina Zigante, 2008. "Ever Rising Expectations: the Determinants of Subjective Welfare in Croatia," Financial Theory and Practice, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 32(2), pages 115-138. [Downloadable!]
  3. Claudia Senik, 2007. "Direct Evidence on Income Comparisons and their Welfare Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 3195, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Song, Lina & Appleton, Simon, 2008. "Life Satisfaction in Urban China: Components and Determinants," MPRA Paper 8347, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Shiqing Jiang & Ming Lu & Hiroshi Sato, 2009. "Happiness in the Dual Society of Urban China: Hukou Identity, Horizontal Inequality and Heterogeneous," Global COE Hi-Stat Discussion Paper Series gd08-020, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University. [Downloadable!]
  6. Andrew E. Clark & Claudia Senik, 2008. "Who compares to whom? The anatomy of income comparisons in Europe," PSE Working Papers 2008-65, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure), revised Sep 2009. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Pérez Truglia, Ricardo Nicolás, 2007. "Can a rise in income inequality improve welfare?," MPRA Paper 4700, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 22 Dec 2007. [Downloadable!]
  8. Paul Dolan & Robert Metcalfe, 2008. "Comparing Willingness-to-Pay and Subjective Well-Being in the Context of Non-Market Goods," CEP Discussion Papers dp0890, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  9. Luis Angeles, 2008. "Adaption or social comparison? The effects of income on happiness," Working Papers 2009_09, Department of Economics, University of Glasgow, revised Jun 2009. [Downloadable!]
  10. Andrew E. Clark & Claudia Senik, 2007. "La croissance rend-elle heureux ? La réponse des données subjectives," PSE Working Papers 2007-06, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  11. Shiqing Jiang & Ming Lu & Hiroshi Sato, 2008. "Happiness in the dual society of urban China:Hukou identity, horizontal inequality and heterogeneous reference," LICOS Discussion Papers 22308, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, K.U.Leuven. [Downloadable!]
  12. Akay, Alpaslan & Martinsson, Peter, 2008. "Does Relative Income Matter for the Very Poor? Evidence from Rural Ethiopia," IZA Discussion Papers 3812, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  13. Nattavudh Powdthavee, 2009. "Estimating the Causal Effects of Income on Happiness," Discussion Papers 09/02, Department of Economics, University of York. [Downloadable!]
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