Working Paper: NBER ID: w14507
Authors: John F. Helliwell
Abstract: This paper argues that measures of life satisfaction, now being collected annually by the Gallup World Poll in more than 130 countries, permit a much broader view of the quality and consequences of development than other common measures. While these data show the importance of conventionally measured economic development, they also show the importance of many other elements of life that are also affected, whether deliberately or not, by community, national, and international institutions and policies. In estimating the importance of these other factors, this paper pays special attention to the social context of well-being: the norms, networks and relationships within which lives are lived.
Keywords: life satisfaction; quality of development; social capital; Gallup World Poll
JEL Codes: D60; I31; O10; P51
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Social relationships (Z13) | Life satisfaction (I31) |
| Quality of social relationships (I31) | Life satisfaction (I31) |
| Social support (I38) | Life satisfaction (I31) |
| Household income (D19) | Life satisfaction (I31) |
| Income (non-OECD countries) (F29) | Life satisfaction (I31) |
| Perceived corruption (H57) | Life satisfaction (I31) |
| Education (I29) | Life satisfaction (I31) |
| Marital status (J12) | Life satisfaction (I31) |
| Age (J14) | Life satisfaction (I31) |