IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cba/wpaper/wp1123.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

‘Small area estimates of Subjective Wellbeing: Spatial Microsimulation on the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index Survey’

Author

Listed:
  • Itismita Mohanty

    (NATSEM, University of Canberra)

  • Robert Tanton

    (NATSEM, University of Canberra)

  • Yogi Vidyattama

    (NATSEM, University of Canberra)

  • Marcia Keegan

    (NATSEM, University of Canberra)

  • Robert Cummins

    (Deakin University)

Abstract

Subjective wellbeing is an indicator of how satisfied a person is with their life. It is becoming accepted as an indicator of happiness and overall wellbeing. This paper uses spatial microsimulation methods to estimate small area subjective wellbeing (SWB) in Australia. The procedure uses the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index survey and the 2011 Census data to derive small area estimates of SWB. Validation of the results shows that high and normal levels of SWB compare well to another source of SWB for small areas in the Murray Darling Basin, but levels of low SWB are not predicted as well, possibly due to the effect of local factors not available for the modelling on reducing SWB. Aggregate estimates compare well to HILDA estimates of SWB at a State level. These estimates are now available from the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN) at the University of Melbourne..

Suggested Citation

  • Itismita Mohanty & Robert Tanton & Yogi Vidyattama & Marcia Keegan & Robert Cummins, 2013. "‘Small area estimates of Subjective Wellbeing: Spatial Microsimulation on the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index Survey’," NATSEM Working Paper Series 13/23, University of Canberra, National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling.
    • Handle: RePEc:cba:wpaper:wp1123
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.natsem.canberra.edu.au/files/download?id=1175
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Cummins, 2003. "Normative Life Satisfaction: Measurement Issues and a Homeostatic Model," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 225-256, November.
    2. Robert Tanton & Yogi Vidyattama & Justine McNamara & Quoc Ngu Vu & Ann Harding, 2009. "Old, Single and Poor: Using Microsimulation and Microdata to Analyse Poverty and the Impact of Policy Change among Older Australians," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 28(2), pages 102-120, June.
    3. Dolan, Paul & Layard, Richard & Metcalfe, Robert, 2011. "Measuring subjective well-being for public policy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 35420, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Sharyn Lymer & Laurie Brown & Ann Harding & Mandy Yap, 2009. "Predicting the need for aged care services at the small area level: the CAREMOD spatial microsimulation model," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 2(2), pages 27-42.
    5. P Williamson & M Birkin & P H Rees, 1998. "The Estimation of Population Microdata by Using Data from Small Area Statistics and Samples of Anonymised Records," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 30(5), pages 785-816, May.
    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. Robert Tanton, 2014. "A Review of Spatial Microsimulation Methods," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 7(1), pages 4-25.

    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. Ann Harding & Robert Tanton, 2014. "Policy and people at the small-area level: using micro-simulation to create synthetic spatial data," Chapters, in: Robert Stimson (ed.), Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Spatially Integrated Social Science, chapter 25, pages 560-586, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Robert Tanton, 2018. "Spatial Microsimulation: Developments and Potential Future Directions," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 11(1), pages 143-161.
    3. Robert Tanton & Paul Williamson & Ann Harding, 2014. "Comparing Two Methods of Reweighting a Survey File to Small Area Data," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 7(1), pages 76-99.
    4. Robert Tanton, 2014. "A Review of Spatial Microsimulation Methods," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 7(1), pages 4-25.
    5. Yogi Vidyattama & Riyana Miranti & Justine McNamara & Robert Tanton & Ann Harding, 2013. "The Challenges of Combining Two Databases in Small-Area Estimation: An Example Using Spatial Microsimulation of Child Poverty," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(2), pages 344-361, February.
    6. Małgorzata W Kożusznik & José M Peiró & Aida Soriano, 2019. "Daily eudaimonic well-being as a predictor of daily performance: A dynamic lens," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-24, April.
    7. Maheshwar Rao & Robert Tanton & Yogi Vidyattama, 2013. "‘A Systems Approach to Analyse the Impacts of Water Policy Reform in the Murray-Darling Basin: a conceptual and an analytical framework’," NATSEM Working Paper Series 13/22, University of Canberra, National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling.
    8. Eugenio Zucchelli & Andrew M Jones & Nigel Rice, 2012. "The evaluation of health policies through dynamic microsimulation methods," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 5(1), pages 2-20.
    9. Drakopoulos, Stavros, 2011. "Hierarchical Needs, Income Comparisons and Happiness Levels," MPRA Paper 48343, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Hock-Eam Lim, 2008. "The Use of Different Happiness Rating Scales: Bias and Comparison Problem?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 259-267, June.
    11. Orla Doyle & Liam Delaney & Christine O'Farrelly & Nick Fitzpatrick & Michael Daly, 2015. "Can Early Intervention Improve Maternal Well-being? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial," Working Papers 2015-015, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    12. Andrew E. Clark & Claudia Senik, 2010. "Will GDP growth increase happiness in developing countries?," PSE Working Papers halshs-00564985, HAL.
    13. Christopher Mackie & Conal Smith, 2015. "Conceptualizing Subjective Well-Being And Its Many Dimensions – Implications For Data Collection In Official Statistics And For Policy Relevance," Statistics in Transition New Series, Polish Statistical Association, vol. 16(3), pages 335-372, September.
    14. Andrés Mauricio Vargas Pérez, 2013. "Bienestar subjetivo y políticas públicas de los gobiernos locales," Revista de Economía del Caribe 14755, Universidad del Norte.
    15. N. Rickard & D. Vella-Brodrick, 2014. "Changes in Well-Being: Complementing a Psychosocial Approach with Neurobiological Insights," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 437-457, June.
    16. Tim Goedemé & Karel Van den Bosch & Lina Salanauskaite & Gerlinde Verbist, 2013. "Testing the Statistical Significance of Microsimulation Results: Often Easier than You Think. A Technical Note," ImPRovE Working Papers 13/10, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    17. Loughrey, Jason & O’Donoghue, Cathal & Meredith, David & Murphy, Ger & Shanahan, Ultan & Miller, Corina, 2018. "The Local Impact of Cattle Farming," 166th Seminar, August 30-31, 2018, Galway, West of Ireland 276231, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. Borualogo, Ihsana Sabriani & Casas, Ferran, 2024. "Children with homeostatically maintained and homeostatically defeated subjective well-being in Indonesia," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    19. Barrington-Leigh, C.P., 2024. "The econometrics of happiness: Are we underestimating the returns to education and income?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    20. Robert Huggins & Piers Thompson, 2014. "Culture, entrepreneurship and uneven development: a spatial analysis," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(9-10), pages 726-752, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wellbeing; Regional welfare; Spatial Microsimulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • R13 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General Equilibrium and Welfare Economic Analysis of Regional Economies
    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:cba:wpaper:wp1123. 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: Peter Trueman (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/natseau.html .

    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.