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Cross-Country Determinants of Life Satisfaction: Exploring Different Determinants Across Groups in SocietyChristian BjørnskovUniversity of Aarhus - Department of Economics Axel DreherUniversity of Heidelberg Justina A. V. FischerOrganization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD); Stockholm School of Economics; University of Hohenheim August 2006 Swiss Institute for Business Cycle Research (KOF) Working Paper No. 145 STICERD, London School of Economics Working Paper No. PEPP-21 Abstract: This paper explores a wide range of cross-country determinants of life satisfaction exploiting a database of 90,000 observations in 70 countries. We distinguish four groups of aggregate variables as potential determinants of satisfaction: political, economic, institutional, and human development and culture. We use ordered probit to investigate the importance of these variables on individual life satisfaction and test the robustness of our results with Extreme Bounds Analysis. The results show that only a small number of factors, such as openness, business climate, postcommunism, the number of chambers in parliament, Christian majority, and infant mortality robustly influence life satisfaction across countries while the importance of many variables suggested in the previous literature is not confirmed. This remains largely true when the analysis splits national populations according to gender, income and political orientation also.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 54 Keywords: Life Satisfaction, Happiness, Institutions, Extreme Bounds Analysis JEL Classification: I31, H10, H40 Accepted Paper SeriesDate posted: November 3, 2005Suggested CitationContact Information
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