IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v19y2018i4d10.1007_s10902-016-9840-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Individual Well-Being, Geographical Heterogeneity and Social Capital

Author

Listed:
  • Isabel Neira

    (University of Santiago de Compostela)

  • Fernando Bruna

    (University of A Coruña)

  • Marta Portela

    (University of Santiago de Compostela)

  • Adela García-Aracil

    (Universitat Politècnica de València, Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación)

Abstract

This paper argues the relevance of analysing the origins of contextual effects to explain subjective well-being (SWB). Using the 2012 European Social Survey, the study applies social capital indicators to distinguish between-context and between-individual heterogeneity in three multilevel models of happiness and life satisfaction. Five indicators of social capital at individual and regional level are used to measure the trust, networks and norms dimensions of social capital. Random intercept and random slope hierarchical models are used to control for unexplained regional variability. The possibility of aggregated subjective perceptions conditioning, or interacting with, the effects of individual perceptions is also examined. The results show that the regional means of the social capital indicators are useful in explaining not only average levels of SWB (between-context heterogeneity) but also differences in the importance individuals attribute to their social capital (between-individual heterogeneity). The paper also proposes a research agenda to expand the frontier on contextual effects in the new science of well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Isabel Neira & Fernando Bruna & Marta Portela & Adela García-Aracil, 2018. "Individual Well-Being, Geographical Heterogeneity and Social Capital," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1067-1090, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:19:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10902-016-9840-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-016-9840-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-016-9840-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-016-9840-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Viola Berlepsch, 2014. "Social Capital and Individual Happiness in Europe," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 357-386, April.
    2. Gasper, D.R., 2004. "Human well-being : concepts and conceptualizations," ISS Working Papers - General Series 19148, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    3. Clark, Andrew E & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Unhappiness and Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 648-659, May.
    4. Luisa Corrado & Bernard Fingleton, 2012. "Where Is The Economics In Spatial Econometrics?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 210-239, May.
    5. Luca Stanca, 2010. "The Geography of Economics and Happiness: Spatial Patterns in the Effects of Economic Conditions on Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 99(1), pages 115-133, October.
    6. Bell, Andrew & Jones, Kelvyn, 2015. "Explaining Fixed Effects: Random Effects Modeling of Time-Series Cross-Sectional and Panel Data," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 133-153, January.
    7. Giorgio Fazio & Luciano Lavecchia, 2013. "Social Capital Formation across Space," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 36(3), pages 296-321, July.
    8. Dimitris Ballas & Mark Tranmer, 2012. "Happy People or Happy Places? A Multilevel Modeling Approach to the Analysis of Happiness and Well-Being," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 35(1), pages 70-102, January.
    9. Bates, Douglas & Mächler, Martin & Bolker, Ben & Walker, Steve, 2015. "Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 67(i01).
    10. Carla Rampichini & Silvana Schifini d'Andrea, 1998. "A Hierarchical Ordinal Probit Model for the Analysis of Life Satisfaction in Italy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 41-69, May.
    11. Luca Andriani & Asimina Christoforou, 2016. "Social Capital: A Roadmap of Theoretical and Empirical Contributions and Limitations," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(1), pages 4-22, January.
    12. Easterlin, Richard A., 1974. "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 111773, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Charles F. Manski, 1993. "Identification of Endogenous Social Effects: The Reflection Problem," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 60(3), pages 531-542.
    14. 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, July.
    15. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    16. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2004. "Well-being over time in Britain and the USA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1359-1386, July.
    17. Katherine Scrivens & Conal Smith, 2013. "Four Interpretations of Social Capital: An Agenda for Measurement," OECD Statistics Working Papers 2013/6, OECD Publishing.
    18. Hans Westlund & Roel Rutten & Frans Boekema, 2010. "Social Capital, Distance, Borders and Levels of Space: Conclusions and Further Issues," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(6), pages 965-970, January.
    19. Ruut Veenhoven, 2009. "Well-Being in Nations and Well-Being of Nations," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 91(1), pages 5-21, March.
    20. Easterlin, Richard A, 2001. "Income and Happiness: Towards an Unified Theory," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(473), pages 465-484, July.
    21. Fazio, Giorgio & Lavecchia, Luciano, 2012. "Social capital formation across space: proximity and trust in European regions," SIRE Discussion Papers 2012-30, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    22. Ruut Veenhoven, 2000. "The Four Qualities of Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-39, March.
    23. John Hudson, 2006. "Institutional Trust and Subjective Well‐Being across the EU," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 43-62, February.
    24. Christian Bjørnskov & Kim Sønderskov, 2013. "Is Social Capital a Good Concept?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 1225-1242, December.
    25. M. Pittau & Roberto Zelli & Andrew Gelman, 2010. "Economic Disparities and Life Satisfaction in European Regions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 96(2), pages 339-361, April.
    26. Peggy Schyns, 2002. "Wealth Of Nations, Individual Income andLife Satisfaction in 42 Countries:A Multilevel Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 5-40, December.
    27. Sibylle Puntscher & Christoph Hauser & Janette Walde & Gottfried Tappeiner, 2015. "The Impact of Social Capital on Subjective Well-Being: A Regional Perspective," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 1231-1246, October.
    28. Aqib Aslam & Luisa Corrado, 2012. "The geography of well-being," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 627-649, May.
    29. Des Gasper, 2004. "Human Well-being: Concepts and Conceptualizations," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2004-06, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    30. Duncan, Craig & Jones, Kelvyn & Moon, Graham, 1998. "Context, composition and heterogeneity: Using multilevel models in health research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 97-117, January.
    31. Edward J. Malecki, 2012. "Regional Social Capital: Why it Matters," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(8), pages 1023-1039, June.
    32. Marta Portela & Isabel Neira & Maria del Salinas-Jiménez, 2013. "Social Capital and Subjective Wellbeing in Europe: A New Approach on Social Capital," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 493-511, November.
    33. Fabio Sabatini, 2008. "Social Capital and the Quality of Economic Development," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 466-499, August.
    34. Mundlak, Yair, 1978. "On the Pooling of Time Series and Cross Section Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(1), pages 69-85, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rodríguez-Puello, Gabriel & Hernandez, Leonidas & Romero-Espinosa, Diana & Rowe, Francisco, 2024. "The disruptive long-term costs of international migration on subjective well-being," OSF Preprints ydbxu, Center for Open Science.
    2. Shuai Zhang & Binbin Liu & Dajian Zhu & Mingwang Cheng, 2018. "Explaining Individual Subjective Well-Being of Urban China Based on the Four-Capital Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-14, September.
    3. Gabriel Rodríguez-Puello & Ariel Arcos & Benjamin Jara, 2022. "Would you Value a few More Hours of work? Underemployment and Subjective Well-Being Across Chilean Workers," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 885-912, April.
    4. A. l. Moro-Egido & M. Navarro & A. Sánchez, 2022. "Changes in Subjective Well-Being Over Time: Economic and Social Resources do Matter," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 2009-2038, June.
    5. Ganau, Roberto & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2023. "Firm-level productivity growth returns of social capital: Evidence from Western Europe," CEPR Discussion Papers 17979, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Isabel Neira & Maricruz Lacalle-Calderon & Marta Portela & Manuel Perez-Trujillo, 2019. "Social Capital Dimensions and Subjective Well-Being: A Quantile Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(8), pages 2551-2579, December.
    7. Xiangdan Piao & Xinxin Ma & Tetsuya Tsurumi & Shunsuke Managi, 2022. "Social Capital, Negative Event, Life Satisfaction and Sustainable Community: Evidence from 37 Countries," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 1311-1330, June.
    8. Philip S. Morrison, 2021. "Whose Happiness in Which Cities? A Quantile Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-20, October.
    9. Wenlong Li & Suocheng Dong & Haiying Lin & Yu Li & Zehong Li & Zhuang Jin & Bing Xia, 2022. "Influence of Rural Social Capital and Production Mode on the Subjective Well-Being of Farmers and Herdsmen: Empirical Discovery on Farmers and Herdsmen in Inner Mongolia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-23, January.
    10. Phil Lignier & Diane Jarvis & Daniel Grainger & Taha Chaiechi, 2024. "Spatial Heterogeneity and Subjective Wellbeing: Exploring the Role of Social Capital in Metropolitan Areas Using Multilevel Modelling," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 1-23, June.
    11. Fernando BRUNA & Isabel NEIRA & Marta PORTELA, 2019. "Horizontal And Vertical Contexts On Europeans’ Well-Being," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 19(2), pages 37-56.
    12. Fernando Bruna, 2022. "Happy Cultures? A Multilevel Model of Well-Being with Individual and Contextual Human Values," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 55-77, November.
    13. Igawa, Moegi & Managi, Shunsuke, 2022. "Energy poverty and income inequality: An economic analysis of 37 countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(PB).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fernando BRUNA & Isabel NEIRA & Marta PORTELA, 2019. "Horizontal And Vertical Contexts On Europeans’ Well-Being," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 19(2), pages 37-56.
    2. Isabel Neira & Maricruz Lacalle-Calderon & Marta Portela & Manuel Perez-Trujillo, 2019. "Social Capital Dimensions and Subjective Well-Being: A Quantile Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(8), pages 2551-2579, December.
    3. 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.
    4. Roberta Distante, 2013. "Subjective Well-Being, Income and Relative Concerns in the UK," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 81-105, August.
    5. Kaiser, Caspar, 2022. "Using memories to assess the intrapersonal comparability of wellbeing reports," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 410-442.
    6. Sibylle Puntscher & Janette Walde & Gottfried Tappeiner, 2016. "Do methodical traps lead to wrong development strategies for welfare? A multilevel approach considering heterogeneity across industrialized and developing countries," Working Papers 2016-01, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    7. Iddisah Sulemana, 2015. "An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship Between Social Capital and Subjective Well-Being in Ghana," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 1299-1321, October.
    8. Kristoffersen, Ingebjørg, 2018. "Great expectations: Education and subjective wellbeing," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 64-78.
    9. Iddisah Sulemana, 2015. "The Effect of Fear of Crime and Crime Victimization on Subjective Well-Being in Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 849-872, April.
    10. O'Donnell, Gus & Oswald, Andrew J., 2015. "National well-being policy and a weighted approach to human feelings," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 59-70.
    11. Tekleselassie, Tsegay Gebrekidan, 2016. "Three essays on the impact of institutions and policies on socio-economic outcomes," Economics PhD Theses 1316, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    12. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Viola Berlepsch, 2014. "Social Capital and Individual Happiness in Europe," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 357-386, April.
    13. Blanchflower, David G & Oswald, Andrew, 2011. "International Happiness," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 39, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    14. Nicola Pontarollo & Mercy Orellana & Joselin Segovia, 2020. "The Determinants of Subjective Well-Being in a Developing Country: The Ecuadorian Case," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 3007-3035, December.
    15. Naoki Akaeda, 2020. "Contextual Social Trust and Well-Being Inequality: From the Perspectives of Education and Income," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 2957-2979, December.
    16. Byela Tibesigwa & Martine Visser & Brennan Hodkinson, 2016. "Effects of Objective and Subjective Income Comparisons on Subjective Wellbeing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 361-389, August.
    17. Martin Binder & Tom Broekel, 2012. "Happiness No Matter the Cost? An Examination on How Efficiently Individuals Reach Their Happiness Levels," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 621-645, August.
    18. Antje Mertens & Miriam Beblo, 2016. "Self-Reported Satisfaction and the Economic Crisis of 2007–2010: Or How People in the UK and Germany Perceive a Severe Cyclical Downturn," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 537-565, January.
    19. Fernando Bruna, 2022. "Happy Cultures? A Multilevel Model of Well-Being with Individual and Contextual Human Values," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 55-77, November.
    20. Cordero, Jose M. & Salinas-Jiménez, Javier & Salinas-Jiménez, Mª Mar, 2014. "Assessing the level of happiness across countries: A robust frontier approach," MPRA Paper 57784, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Happiness; Life satisfaction; Multilevel models; Between-context; Between-individual; European regions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation
    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:19:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10902-016-9840-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.