Conclusions from the Analysis of Probit Analysis for Asia, Africa and Latin America

The approach undertaken in this book enables a better understanding of the local factors that have a bearing on how well-being and happiness are uplifted in different countries and among different poverty groups. Insights have been gained by exploring the three alternatives suggested for measures of well-being and happiness as well as analysis by subregions. The life satisfaction ladder, with gradations from 1 to 10 which register a progression of life satisfaction from not at all satisfied to very satisfied, gives one perspective on which independent variables have the most significant impact on life satisfaction. The happiness definition, which varies between 1 and 4, gives a different perspective on well-being. Comparisons between the two ways to characterize well-being yield additional insights into behavior and how different forces work to uplift well-being and happiness. This approach contrasts with an analysis based on a single measure. Furthermore, a third variation, which collapses the 1 to 4 category into a binary choice of happy or unhappy, adds yet a further dimension to the analysis. With added insight come challenges. The introduction of several ways to measure well-being makes it more difficult to draw simple conclusions or to characterize the results for all countries and variables.