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Land and Happiness

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  • Bert Van Landeghem
  • Johan Swinnen
  • Liesbet Vranken

Abstract

The distribution of land rights is an important economic and political issue, and it played a central role in the transition process in Europe and Asia. This paper analyzes the impact of the distribution of land on household welfare by using subjective well-being data from a rural household survey in Moldova, the poorest country in Europe. The recent land reform in Moldova provides a natural experiment on the impact of land ownership distribution on subjective well-being. We find that household land holdings have a positive effect on subjective well-being, but neighbors' average land holdings have a negative effect on subjective well-being. People, regardless of the land distribution and even given the relatively low living standards of these households, rate their welfare by looking at how much other people possess.

Suggested Citation

  • Bert Van Landeghem & Johan Swinnen & Liesbet Vranken, 2013. "Land and Happiness," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 61-85, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:mes:eaeuec:v:51:y:2013:i:1:p:61-85
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    Cited by:

    1. Onofri, Laura & Trestini, Samuele & Mamine, Fateh & Loughrey, Jason, 2022. "Understanding the Agricultural Land Leasing Market in Ireland: A Transaction Cost Approach," 96th Annual Conference, April 4-6, 2022, K U Leuven, Belgium 321211, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.
    2. Senakpon F. A. Dedehouanou & Johan Swinnen & Miet Maertens, 2013. "Does Contracting Make Farmers Happy? Evidence from Senegal," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 59, pages 138-160, October.
    3. Umakrishnan Kollamparambil, 2021. "Non‐income effect of land ownership and tenure on subjective wellbeing in South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 89(2), pages 301-323, June.
    4. Laura Onofri & Samuele Trestini & Fateh Mamine & Jason Loughrey, 2023. "Understanding agricultural land leasing in Ireland: a transaction cost approach," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.

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