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Explanation of Micro and Macro Determinant Factors of Subjective Well-Being in Iran and other Developing Countries

Babazadeh Khorasani, Behzad | 2011

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  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: Farsi
  3. Document No: 41998 (44)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology
  5. Department: Management and Economics
  6. Advisor(s): Nili, Farhad
  7. Abstract:
  8. Study on the economics of happiness has grown rapidly in recent years. Most studies are based on the data from developed countries. In this thesis, determinants of life satisfaction in Iran and some other developing countries have been studied at micro and macro levels.Our research at micro level is based on analyzing 4550 observation for Iran gathered at two years (2003 and 2005), at macro level we have used from microdata of 44 developing countries including Iran. Relevant data was extracted from WVS (World Values Survey) databank. At micro level we have shown that the life satisfaction increases by improvement in income, health status, and religious participation. In addition, life satisfaction is lower for male, unemployed, widowed and divorced. Age has a U-shaped effect on the life satisfaction. In Iran the minimum satisfaction occurs roughly at the age 44. Furthermore, unemployment has an asymmetric effect on the life satisfaction of male and female. Unemployed Iranian men suffer severely from unemployment whereas this effect is insignificant for unemployed women.At macro level, with controlling micro variables, we have shown that similar to the developed countries, raising inflation and unemployment decreases the aggregate satisfaction in developing countries. Raising one percent of total unemployment has approximately 3 times higher impact compared with inflation. This shows insufficiency of misery index which considers equal weights for both variables on the social welfare function. In addition, raising GDP per capita has a strong effect on the life satisfaction in a group of developing countries, while it is insignificant in developed countries
  9. Keywords:
  10. Social Welfare ; Happiness Economics ; Subjective Wellbeing ; Welfare Measurement

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