1 Introduction
1.1 Research Questions
1.2 Plan of this Paper
2 Happiness in Nations
2.1 Concept
2.2 Measurement
0
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
| |
Worst possible life
|
Best possible life
|
2.3 Reliability and Validity of Self-Reported Happiness
2.4 Data-Source (Data in “Annex”)
3 Quality of Governments in Nations
3.1 Concept
3.2 Democratic and Technical Quality
Voice + Acc. | Political stability | Gov. effective | Regulatory quality | Rule of law | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Voice + accountability | X | ||||
Political stability | 0.69 | X | |||
Government effectiveness | 0.81 | 0.77 | X | ||
Regulatory quality | 0.85 | 0.75 | 0.95 | X | |
Rule of law | 0.80 | 0.78 | 0.97 | 0.94 | X |
Control of corruption | 0.79 | 0.77 | 0.96 | 0.91 | 0.98 |
3.3 Measurement
3.4 Data-Source (Data in “Annex”)
4 Size of Governments in Nations
4.1 Concept
4.2 Measurement
5 Good Governance and Level of Happiness in Nations
5.1 Average Happiness Higher with Technical Good Governance?
5.2 Average Happiness Higher with Democratic Governance?
5.3 Quality and Average Happiness in a Nutshell
6 Good Governance and Inequality in Happiness in Nations
6.1 Less Inequality with Technical Good Governance?
6.2 Less Inequality with Democratic Good Governance?
6.3 Quality and Inequality in Happiness in a Nutshell
7 Size of Governments and Happiness in Nations
7.1 Size of Government and Average Happiness
Government size | Correlations between the size of government and average happiness in nations | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
N
| Zero-order correlation | Partial correlation controlled for technical quality of government | Partial correlation controlled for democratic quality of government | |
Government consumption | 116 | +0.46 | +0.14 | +0.30 |
Government expenditures | 125 | +0.51 | +0.17 | +0.28 |
7.2 Size of Government and Inequality in Happiness
7.3 Size and Happiness in a Nutshell
8 Discussion
8.1 Causality: Does Good Governance Make us Happier?
8.1.1 Spurious Correlation?
In fact, the evidence points to the causality being in the direction of better governance leading to higher economic growth. A number of emerging economies, including the Baltic States, Botswana, Chile and Slovenia, have shown that it is possible to reach high standards of governance without yet having joined the ranks of wealthy nations.
8.1.2 Impact of Happiness on Government?
8.1.3 Causality: Effect of Government Quality?
8.2 Why is the Relationship with Inequality of Happiness a Bell Shaped Curve?
In assessing trends over time, we find that 31 percent of countries experience significant changes over the decade 1998–2007 in at least one of the six indicators (roughly evenly divided between significant improvements and deteriorations). This highlights the fact that governance can and does change even over relatively short periods such as a decade. This should both provide encouragement to reformers seeking to improve governance, as well as warn against complacency in other cases as sharp deteriorations in governance are possible.
8.3 Can Happiness Help Governments Out of an ‘Inequality Trap’?
While equality and honest government come first, the reciprocal effects we posit make it difficult (at best) for countries to escape the inequality trap.
Happy people have a higher desire to vote, perform more volunteer work, and more frequently participate in public activities. They also have a higher respect for law and order, hold more association memberships, are more attached to their neighborhood, and extend more help to others.