Djankov, S;
Nikolova, E;
Zilinsky, J;
(2016)
The happiness gap in Eastern Europe.
Journal of Comparative Economics
, 44
(1)
pp. 108-124.
10.1016/j.jce.2015.10.006.
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Abstract
Citizens in Eastern Europe are less satisfied with life than their peers in other countries. This happiness gap has persisted over time, despite predictions to the contrary by earlier scholars. It holds after controlling for a variety of covariates, such as the standard of living, life expectancy and Eastern Orthodox religion. Armed with a battery of surveys from the early 1990s to 2014, we argue that the happiness gap is explained by how citizens in post-communist countries perceive their governments. Eastern Europeans link their life satisfaction to higher perceived corruption and weaker government performance. Our results suggest that the transition from central planning is still incomplete, at least in the psychology of people.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The happiness gap in Eastern Europe |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jce.2015.10.006 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2015.10.006 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Happiness; Corruption; Government performance |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > SSEES |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1573636 |
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