How's Your Government? International Evidence Linking Good Government and Well-Being

41 Pages Posted: 14 Sep 2006 Last revised: 5 Oct 2022

See all articles by John F. Helliwell

John F. Helliwell

University of British Columbia (UBC) - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Haifang Huang

University of Alberta - Department of Economics

Date Written: January 2006

Abstract

In this paper we employ World Values Survey measures of life satisfaction as though they were direct measures of utility, and use them to evaluate alternative features and forms of government in large international samples. We find that life satisfaction is more closely linked to several World Bank measures of the quality of government than to real per capita incomes, in simple correlations and more fully specified models explaining international differences in life satisfaction. We test for differences in the relative importance of different aspects of good government, and find a hierarchy of preferences that depends on the level of development. The ability of governments to provide a trustworthy environment, and to deliver services honestly and efficiently, appears to be of paramount importance for countries with worse governance and lower incomes. The balance changes once acceptable levels of efficiency, trust and incomes are achieved, when more value is attached to building and maintaining the institutions of electoral democracy.

Suggested Citation

Helliwell, John F. and Huang, Haifang, How's Your Government? International Evidence Linking Good Government and Well-Being (January 2006). NBER Working Paper No. w11988, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=879253

John F. Helliwell (Contact Author)

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Haifang Huang

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