IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v146y2019i3d10.1007_s11205-019-02136-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Developing Thai Happiness Index

Author

Listed:
  • Kalayanee Senasu

    (National Institute of Development Administration)

  • Arnond Sakworawich

    (National Institute of Development Administration)

  • Darlene F. Russ-Eft

    (Oregon State University)

Abstract

This research aims to develop a national happiness index to identify the level of happiness of Thai people as well as to identify and quantify other related issues. The data were collected by interviewed questionnaires. The research data were from stratified multi-stage sampling according to region, province, district and enumeration area; and simple random sampling in each enumeration area. The research data cover 13 provinces, including Bangkok and 3 provinces in each region of the North, Northeastern, Central, and South of Thailand. There were 3217 usable respondents who were at least 15 years old. The Alkire-Foster method was applied in the development of the Thai happiness index (THaI). The index employs values ranging from 0 to 1; the larger the number, the higher the level of happiness. The result reveals that the 2017 THaI0 value is 0.506. The intensity of sufficiency among those who are not-yet-happy is 49.4%. However, the depth of sufficiency (THaI1 value of 0.867) is low. Additionally, the severity of sufficiency (THaI2 value of 0.94) is also low. Dividing people into four groups according to their degree of happiness reveals that 14.6% of the population are happy, with 3.9% “deeply happy” and 10.6% “extensively happy”; and 85.5% of the population are not-yet-happy, with 26.4% “narrowly happy” and 59.1% “unhappy”. The group of happy population reflects the happiness index THaI0, which has a value of 0.789, much higher than the not-yet-happy population with a THaI0 value of 0.458. The analyzed results from THaI index can be utilized to enrich the national policies to create enabling conditions where people are able to pursue wellbeing in sustainable ways. In addition, the approach can be used and adapted for other countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Kalayanee Senasu & Arnond Sakworawich & Darlene F. Russ-Eft, 2019. "Developing Thai Happiness Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 425-448, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:146:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-019-02136-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-019-02136-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-019-02136-6
    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/s11205-019-02136-6?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. Alkire, Sabina & Foster, James & Seth, Suman & Santos, Maria Emma & Roche, Jose Manuel & Ballon, Paola, 2015. "Multidimensional Poverty Measurement and Analysis," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199689491.
    2. Gerdtham, Ulf-G & Johannesson, Magnus, 2001. "The relationship between happiness, health, and socio-economic factors: results based on Swedish microdata," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 553-557.
    3. Alkire, Sabina & Foster, James, 2011. "Counting and multidimensional poverty measurement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7-8), pages 476-487, August.
    4. Ka Wai Chan & Thomas A. Wyatt, 2007. "Quality of Work Life: A Study of Employees in Shanghai, China," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 501-517, October.
    5. Sabina Alkire, James E. Foster, Suman Seth, Maria Emma Santos, Jose M. Roche and Paola Ballon, 2015. "Multidimensional Poverty Measurement and Analysis: Chapter 9 - Distribution and Dynamics," OPHI Working Papers ophiwp090_ch9.pdf, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    6. Sabina Alkire, James E. Foster, Suman Seth, Maria Emma Santos, José M. Roche and Paola Ballon, 2015. "Multidimensional Poverty Measurement and Analysis: Chapter 7 - Data and Analysis," OPHI Working Papers ophiwp088_ch7.pdf, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    7. Carol Graham, 2008. "Measuring Quality of Life in Latin America: What Happiness Research Can (and Cannot) Contribute," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 6751, Inter-American Development Bank.
    8. Senasu, Kalayanee & Singhapakdi, Anusorn, 2014. "Happiness in Thailand: The Effects of Family, Health and Job Satisfaction, and the Moderating Role of Gender," Working Papers 76, JICA Research Institute.
    9. Graham, Carol, 2008. "Measuring Quality of Life in Latin America: What Happiness Research Can (and Cannot) Contribute," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 1632, Inter-American Development Bank.
    10. Bentham, Jeremy, 1781. "An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number bentham1781.
    11. David Webb, 2009. "Subjective Wellbeing on the Tibetan Plateau: An Exploratory Investigation," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 10(6), pages 753-768, December.
    12. Robert Biswas-Diener & Ed Diener, 2001. "Making the Best of a Bad Situation: Satisfaction in the Slums of Calcutta," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 329-352, September.
    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. A. Spada & M. Fiore & A. Galati, 2024. "The Impact of Education and Culture on Poverty Reduction: Evidence from Panel Data of European Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 175(3), pages 927-940, December.
    2. Rafael Ravina-Ripoll & Rafael Robina-Ramírez, 2023. "Are rural accommodation employees able to aspire to transcendent happiness in their work? An exploratory model," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Jhonatan Clausen & Nicolas Barrantes, 2022. "Developing a Comprehensive Multidimensional Wellbeing Index Based on What People Value: An Application to a Middle-Income Country," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(6), pages 3253-3283, December.

    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. Sabina Alkire, 2015. "The Capability Approach and Well-Being Measurement for Public Policy," OPHI Working Papers ophiwp094.pdf, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    2. Espinoza-Delgado, José & Silber, Jacques, 2018. "Multi-dimensional poverty among adults in Central America and gender differences in the three I’s of poverty: Applying inequality sensitive poverty measures with ordinal variables," MPRA Paper 88750, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Abre-Rehmat Qurat-ul-Ann & Faisal Mehmood Mirza, 2021. "Multidimensional Energy Poverty in Pakistan: Empirical Evidence from Household Level Micro Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 211-258, May.
    4. Eleftherios Giovanis & Oznur Ozdamar, 2021. "Regional employment support programs and multidimensional poverty of youth in Turkey," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(4), pages 583-609, December.
    5. Pinaki Das & Bibek Paria & Shama Firdaush, 2021. "Juxtaposing Consumption Poverty and Multidimensional Poverty: A Study in Indian Context," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 469-501, January.
    6. Tavares, Fernando Flores & Betti, Gianni, 2021. "The pandemic of poverty, vulnerability, and COVID-19: Evidence from a fuzzy multidimensional analysis of deprivations in Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    7. Zaira Najam & John Gibson, 2022. "Does intra‐country poverty convergence depend on spatial spillovers and the type of poverty measure? Evidence from Pakistan," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(3), pages 516-535, September.
    8. Sugata Bag & Suman Seth, 2016. "Understanding Standard of Living and Correlates in Slums - An Analysis Using Monetary Versus Multidimensional Approaches in Three Indian Cities," Working papers 263, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    9. Gaurav Datt, 2019. "Multidimensional poverty in the Philippines, 2004–2013: How much do choices for weighting, identification and aggregation matter?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1103-1128, October.
    10. Alkire, Sabina & Roche, José Manuel & Vaz, Ana, 2017. "Changes Over Time in Multidimensional Poverty: Methodology and Results for 34 Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 232-249.
    11. Nisreen Salti & Jad Chaaban & Alexandra Irani & Rima Al Mokdad, 2021. "A Multi-Dimensional Measure of Well-being among Youth: The Case of Palestinian Refugee Youth in Lebanon," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 1-34, February.
    12. Dutta, Indranil & Nogales, Ricardo & Yalonetzky, Gaston, 2021. "Endogenous weights and multidimensional poverty: A cautionary tale," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    13. Brandolini, Andrea & Micklewright, John, 2020. "Tony Atkinson's New Book, Measuring Poverty around the World: Some Further Reflections," IZA Discussion Papers 12890, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Zaira Najam & Susan Olivia, 2021. "Does the impact of cash transfers differ across poverty measures? Evidence from Pakistan," Working Papers in Economics 21/09, University of Waikato.
    15. Santos, María Emma, 2019. "Non-monetary indicators to monitor SDG targets 1.2 and 1.4: standards, availability, comparability and quality," Estudios Estadísticos 44452, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    16. Grant J. Cameron & Hai‐Anh H. Dang & Mustafa Dinc & James Foster & Michael M. Lokshin, 2021. "Measuring the Statistical Capacity of Nations," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 83(4), pages 870-896, August.
    17. Zaira Najam & John Gibson, 2021. "Does within-country poverty convergence depend on spatial spillovers and the type of poverty measure? Evidence from Pakistan," Working Papers in Economics 21/07, University of Waikato.
    18. Datt,Gaurav, 2017. "Multidimensional poverty in the Philippines, 2004-13 : do choices for weighting, identification and aggregation matter ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8099, The World Bank.
    19. Ankita Mishra & Ranjan Ray & Leonora Risse, 2016. "The Multidimensional Disadvantage of Australian Children with a Comparison between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Children," Monash Economics Working Papers 19-16, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    20. Najam, Zaira, 2020. "The Sensitivity of Poverty Trends to Dimensionality and Distribution Sensitivity in Poverty Measures - District Level Analysis for Pakistan," MPRA Paper 102383, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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:soinre:v:146:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-019-02136-6. 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.