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Wealth, Happiness and Happiness Inequality in China

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Wealth(s) and Subjective Well-Being

Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series ((SINS,volume 76))

Abstract

Much literature explores the relationship between income and happiness, but the literature on wealth and happiness is more limited. We use longitudinal data for China to examine the effect of absolute wealth, relative wealth and key components of wealth on happiness and happiness inequality. We find that wealthier people are generally happier and that the rank order of one’s wealth, relative to comparators, matters for happiness. We also find that an increase in the wealth of those to whom we compare ourselves generally lowers happiness, consistent with a jealousy or status effect. Implications of redistributive policies are discussed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The 2010 wave excluded Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, Hainan, Ningxia, and Qinghai but these provinces were surveyed in subsequent waves.

  2. 2.

    The IHS transformations can be expressed as \( ihs(x)=\log \left(\sqrt{x^2+1}+x\right). \)

  3. 3.

    The change in the happiness score equals the standard deviation of wealth × the coefficient reported in Table 20.2. In this case, it is 3.33 × 0.0059 = 0.02 points.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China

    Haining Wang

  2. University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Zhiming Cheng

  3. Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Russell Smyth

Authors
  1. Haining Wang
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  2. Zhiming Cheng
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  3. Russell Smyth
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Correspondence to Zhiming Cheng .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    Gaël Brulé

  2. University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    Christian Suter

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Wang, H., Cheng, Z., Smyth, R. (2019). Wealth, Happiness and Happiness Inequality in China. In: Brulé, G., Suter, C. (eds) Wealth(s) and Subjective Well-Being. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 76. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05535-6_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05535-6_20

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