Skip to main content
Disciplines
Automotive Business IT + Informatics Construction + Real Estate Electrical Engineering + Electronics Energy + Sustainability Insurance + Risk Finance + Banking Management + Leadership Marketing + Sales Mechanical Engineering + Materials
Events
DE
EN
Books
Journals
Topic Page
Marketing
Start single access now
Access for companies
EXTENDED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Journal of Happiness Studies
Published in: Journal of Happiness Studies 1/2022

21-06-2021 | Research Paper

History Matters: Life Satisfaction in Transition Countries

Author: Vedran Recher

Published in: Journal of Happiness Studies | Issue 1/2022

Log in

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

In this paper, we use the Life in Transition (LiTS) survey micro- data to estimate the gravity model of life satisfaction in seven post-transition countries. We use precise localization data and a very rich set of controls to estimate the effect of the duration of Ottoman rule on similarities in life satisfaction between pairs of primary sampling units. On average, being under the Ottoman rule for more than 100 years reduces the dissimilarity in life satisfaction between two primary sampling units. Further, we find that institutional heritage plays an important role in this interaction. Our results show that areas with a shared history of Ottoman rule are more similar in their institutional setting and life satisfaction. The results suggest that the analysis of life satisfaction in transition countries is often oversimplified by focusing on the transition process and ignoring potentially significant historical discontinuities.
previous article Exploring the Effects of Types of Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity on Subjective Well-Being
next article Is it me or you? An Actor-partner Examination of the Relationship between Partners’ Character Strengths and Marital Quality

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Footnotes
1
Karaman and Pamuk (2010) explain these arrangements in detail. They are based on individuals who pay the tax to the central administration in cash, in return for the right to farm the taxes in that region.
 
2
Detailed description of sampling methods, selection of primary sampling units, and households can be found at http://​litsonline-ebrd.​com/​methodology-annex/​.
 
3
The trade gravity model originally explains the strength of trade integration through common characteristics of trading partners and their proximity (Grosjean 2011).
 
4
To check if our arbitrary thresholds drive the results, we have estimated the same models with (i) the threshold of 84 years (first under 100), (ii) the threshold over of 111 years (first over 100), and (iii) the threshold of 200 years. We have also tried changing the other ’windows’ of Ottoman rule duration to 100-300, 300-500, and again the results were substantively the same.
 
Literature
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., & Robinson, J. A. (2001). The colonial origins of comparative development: An empirical investigation. American Economic Review, 91(5), 1369–1401.CrossRef
Alesina, A., & Giuliano, P. (2015). Culture and institutions. Journal of Economic Literature, 53(4), 898–944.CrossRef
Angrist, J. D., & Pischke, J. S. (2008). Mostly harmless econometrics: An empiricist’s companion. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRef
Angrist, J. D., & Pischke, J. S. (2014). Mastering’metrics: The path from cause to effect. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Balatsky, G., & Diener, E. (1993). Subjective well-being among russian students. Social Indicators Research, 28(3), 225–243.CrossRef
Balla, E., & Johnson, N. D. (2009). Fiscal crisis and institutional change in the ottoman empire and france. The Journal of Economic History, 69(3), 809–845.CrossRef
Becker, S. O., Boeckh, K., Hainz, C., & Woessmann, L. (2016). The empire is dead, long live the empire! long-run persistence of trust and corruption in the bureaucracy. The Economic Journal, 126(590), 40–74.CrossRef
Ben-Ner, A., & Neuberger, E. (1990). The feasibility of planned market systems: The yugoslav visible hand and negotiated planning. Journal of Comparative Economics, 4(14), 768–790.CrossRef
Berggren, N., & Bjørnskov, C. (2020). Institutions and life satisfaction. Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics pp 1–48.
Bjørnskov, C., Dreher, A., Fischer, J. A. V., Bjørnskova, C., Dreherb, A., & Fischerc, J. A. V. (2008). Cross-country determinants of life satisfaction: Exploring dierent determinants across groups in society. Socical Choice Welfare, 30(1), 119–173.CrossRef
Boettke PJ, Coyne CJ. (2009). Context matters: Institutions and entrepreneurship. Now Publishers Inc.
Cook, K. S., Levi, M., & Hardin, R. (2009). Whom can we trust?: How groups, networks, and institutions make trust possible. Newyork: Russell Sage Foundation.
Dell, M. (2010). The persistent effects of peru’s mining mita. Econometrica, 78(6), 1863–1903.CrossRef
Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. (2004). Beyond money: Toward an economy of well-being. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5(1), 1–31.CrossRef
Diener, E., Smith, H., & Fujita, F. (1995). The personality structure of affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(1), 130.CrossRef
Djankov, S., Nikolova, E., & Zilinsky, J. (2016). The happiness gap in eastern europe. Journal of Comparative Economics, 44(1), 108–124.CrossRef
Easterlin, R. (2008). Does transition make you happy? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 71(2), 130–145.
Estrin, S. (1991). Yugoslavia: The case of self-managing market socialism. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5(4), 187–194.CrossRef
Estrin, S., Moore, R. E., & Svejnar, J. (1988). Market imperfections, labor management, and earnings differentials in a developing country: theory and evidence from yugoslavia. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 103(3), 465–478.CrossRef
Frey, B. S., & Stutzer, A. (2000). Happiness, economy and institutions. The Economic Journal, 110(466), 918–938.CrossRef
Frey, B. S., & Stutzer, A. (2010). Happiness and economics: How the economy and institutions affect human well-being. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Fujita, F., & Diener, E. (2005). Life satisfaction set point: stability and change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(1), 158–164.CrossRef
Gammage, S. (2015). Labour market institutions and gender equality. In Janine Berg (Ed.), Labour Markets, Institutions and Inequality. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Gelb, A. (1999). The end of transition? In: Brown A (Ed.) When is Transition Over?, Kalamazoo, Mich: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Grosjean, P. (2011). The weight of history on european cultural integration: a gravity approach. American Economic Review, 101(3), 504–08.CrossRef
Guriev, S., & Melnikov, N. (2018). Happiness convergence in transition countries. Journal of Comparative Economics, 46(3), 683–707.CrossRef
Guriev, S., & Zhuravskaya, E. (2009). (Un) happiness in transition. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 23(2), 143–68.CrossRef
Hayo, B., & Seifert, W. (2003). Subjective economic well-being in eastern europe. Journal of Economic Psychology, 24(3), 329–348.CrossRef
Headey, B, Wearing, AJ. (1992). Understanding happiness: A theory of subjective well-being. Longman Cheshire.
Inglehart, R. (1990). Culture shift in advanced industrial society. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRef
Inglehart, R. (2002). Gender, aging, and subjective well-being. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 43(3–5), 391–408.CrossRef
Inglehart R, Foa R, Ponarin E, Welzel C. (2013). Understanding the russian malaise: The collapse and recovery of subjective well-being in post-communist russia.
Kang, S. M., Shaver, P. R., Sue, S., Min, K. H., & Jing, H. (2003). Culture-specific patterns in the prediction of life satisfaction: Roles of emotion, relationship quality, and self-esteem. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(12), 1596–1608.CrossRef
Karaman, K. K., & Pamuk, Ş. (2010). Ottoman state finances in european perspective, 1500–1914. The Journal of Economic History, 70(3), 593–629.CrossRef
Kešeljević, A., et al. (2016). Institutional origins of subjective well-being: Estimating the effects of economic freedom on national happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17(2), 659–712.CrossRef
Kornai, J. (1999). Reforming the welfare state in postsocialist economies. In: Brown A (ed) When is Transition Over?, Kalamazoo, Mich.: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, chap 6.
Kozma, A., Stone, S., Stones, M., Hannah, T., & McNeil, K. (1990). Long-and short-term affective states in happiness Model: paradigm and experimental evidence. Social Indicators Research, 22(2), 119–138.CrossRef
Letki, N., & Evans, G. (2005). Endogenizing social trust: democratization in east-central europe. British Journal of Political Science, 1, 515–529.CrossRef
Lykken, D., & Tellegen, A. (1996). Happiness is a stochastic phenomenon. Psychological Science, 7(3), 186–189.CrossRef
Mair, P., & Van Biezen, I. (2001). Party membership in twenty european democracies, 1980–2000. Party Politics, 7(1), 5–21.CrossRef
Mallard, A. G., Lance, C. E., & Michalos, A. C. (1997). Culture as a moderator of overall life satisfaction-life facet satisfaction relationships. Social Indicators Research, 40(3), 259–284.CrossRef
Manski, C. F. (1993). Identification of endogenous social effects: The reflection problem. The review of economic studies, 60(3), 531–542.CrossRef
Nannestad, P., Svendsen, G. T., Dinesen, P. T., & Sønderskov, K. M. (2014). Do institutions or culture determine the level of social trust? the natural experiment of migration from non-western to western countries. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 40(4), 544–565.CrossRef
Nikolova, M. (2016). Minding the happiness gap: Political institutions and perceived quality of life in transition. European Journal of Political Economy, 45, 129–148.CrossRef
North, D.C. (2008). Institutions and the performance of economies over time. In: Handbook of new institutional economics, Springer
Palmer, A. (2011). The decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire. Faber & Faber.
Rao, A., & Kelleher, D. (2003). Institutions, organisations and gender equality in an era of globalisation. Gender & Development, 11(1), 142–149.CrossRef
Ravallion, M., & Lokshin, M. (2001). Identifying welfare effects from subjective questions. Economica, 68(271), 335–357.CrossRef
Robinson, J., & Acemoglu, R. (2012). Why nations fail. Crown Publishing Group.
Rode, M. (2013). Do good institutions make citizens happy, or do happy citizens build better institutions? Journal of Happiness Studies, 14(5), 1479–1505.CrossRef
Rose, R., & McAllister, I. (1996). Is money the measure of welfare in russia? Review of Income and Wealth, 42(1), 75–90.CrossRef
Sanfey, P., & Teksoz, U. (2007). Does transition make you happy? Economics of Transition, 15(4), 707–731.CrossRef
Sautet, F. (2005). The role of institutions in entrepreneurship: implications for development policy. Mercatus Policy Primer (1).
Schein, A. (2012). Institutional reversals and economic growth: Palestine 1516–1948. Journal of Institutional Economics, 8(1), 119–141.CrossRef
Schimmack, U., Radhakrishnan, P., Oishi, S., Dzokoto, V., & Ahadi, S. (2002). Culture, personality, and subjective well-being: Integrating process models of life satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(4), 582.CrossRef
Sen, G. (2007). Informal institutions and gender equality. Informal institutions: How social norms help or hinder development, (pp. 49–72).
Sinnott, R. W. (1984). Virtues of the haversine. Sky and Telescope, 68, 159.
Sirgy, MJ. (2012). The psychology of quality of life: Hedonic well-being, life satisfaction, and eudaimonia .Springer cience & Business Media. 50
Smith, AF. (2020). Electoral institutions and party membership. In: Political Party Membership in New Democracies, Springer, pp 23–55.
Suh, E. M., Diener, E., & Updegraff, J. A. (2008). From culture to priming conditions: Self-construal influences on life satisfaction judgments. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 39(1), 3–15.CrossRef
Svejnar, J. (2002). Transition economies: Performance and challenges. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16(1), 3–28.CrossRef
Tabellini, G. (2010). Culture and institutions: Eonomic development in the regions of europe. Journal of the European Economic Association, 8
Turchin, P., Adams, J.M., Hall, T.D. (2006). East-west orientation of historical empires and modern states. Journal of world-systems research pp 219–229.
Veenhoven, R. (2005). Is happiness a trait? In: Citation Classics from Social Indicators Research, Springer, pp 477–536.
Vucinich, W. S. (1962). The nature of balkan society under ottoman rule. Slavic Review, 21(4), 597–616.CrossRef
Woodward, S. L. (1995). Socialist unemployment: the political economy of Yugoslavia, 1945–1990. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRef
Metadata
Title
History Matters: Life Satisfaction in Transition Countries
Author
Vedran Recher
Publication date
21-06-2021
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Published in
Journal of Happiness Studies / Issue 1/2022
Print ISSN: 1389-4978
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7780
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00393-2

Other articles of this Issue 1/2022

Journal of Happiness Studies 1/2022 Go to the issue

Research Paper

Buffer Stock Operations and Well-Being: The Case of Smallholder Farmers in Ghana

Research Paper

Decision Authority on Positive Mental Health in the Workforce: A Moderated Mediation Model of Social Support, Gender, Income, and Occupation

Research Paper

Daily Positive Support and Perceived Stress During COVID-19 Outbreak: The Role of Daily Gratitude Within Couples

Research Paper

Personality Traits and Time Perspectives: Implications for Adolescents’ Mental Health and Mental Illness

Research Paper

Positive Emotions Boost Enthusiastic Responsiveness to Capitalization Attempts. Dissecting Self-Report, Physiology, and Behavior

Research Paper

Do Psychological Needs Play a Role in Times of Uncertainty? Associations with Well-Being During the COVID-19 Crisis