Happiness and the Quality of Government / John F. Helliwell, Haifang Huang, Shun Wang.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Helliwell, John F.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Huang, Haifang.

Wang, Shun.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w26840.

NBER working paper series no. w26840

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2020.

Summary:

This chapter uses happiness data to assess the quality of government. Our happiness data are drawn from the Gallup World Poll, starting in 2005 and extending to 2017 or 2018. In our analysis of the panel of more than 150 countries and generally over 1,500 national-level observations, we show that government delivery quality is significantly correlated with national happiness, but democratic quality is not. We also analyze other quality of government indicators. Confidence in government is correlated with happiness, however forms of democracy and government spending seem not. We further discuss three channels (including peace and conflict, trust, and inequality) whereby quality of government and happiness are linked. We finally summarize what has been learned about how government policies could be formed to improve citizens' happiness.

Notes:

Print version record

March 2020.