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Happiness and Transition: the Case of Kyrgyzstan
Author(s) -
Namazie Ceema,
Sanfey Peter
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
review of development economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.531
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1467-9361
pISSN - 1363-6669
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9361.00131
Subject(s) - happiness , life satisfaction , economics , demographic economics , position (finance) , world values survey , psychology , subjective well being , transition (genetics) , survey data collection , test (biology) , social psychology , finance , biology , gene , paleontology , biochemistry , chemistry , statistics , mathematics
The paper analyzes self‐reported measures of satisfaction with life in a transition country, Kyrgyzstan, using 1993 household survey data. The authors test whether higher levels of satisfaction are associated with greater economic wellbeing. This hypothesis is strongly supported by the data. Unhappiness is prevalent among older people, the unemployed, and those who are divorced. There appears to be little correlation between happiness and either gender or education level. There is some evidence that income relativities, as measured by perceived position on the wealth ladder, also have a strong effect on life satisfaction.