Beelen, D. van (2021) Relative Income, Happiness and Urban-Rural Differentials: A quantitative study into the relationship between relative income andhappiness of urban and rural populations in England. Master thesis.
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Abstract
Since the start of the 21st century, an increasing body of literature on the ‘Science of Happiness’ emerged, giving rise to studies on the drivers of happiness. These studies have included a wide range of explanatory variables to better understand what drives individuals’ happiness. Yet, oftentimes these studies included only a set of variables within a specific domain relating to happiness, such as relative income, social capital, or deprivation. This study aims to build on the efforts of earlier research on happiness by providing an overarching framework, including variables from various domains within the Science of Happiness, to create a wider understanding of happiness. The main focus is placed on the effects of relative income on the happiness of urban and rural populations in England. By studying relative income, social comparison and urban-rural differentials, this study addresses the relative paucity of studies on these subjects. Using Ordinary Least Squares and Ordered Logistic Regression as estimation techniques, the contribution of relative income to subjective well-being and life satisfaction has been studied. The results of this study have shown that, in 2019, rural high-income individuals reported significantly higher scores on their happiness compared to urban middle-income individuals. Contrary, rural middle- and low-income individuals were not found to report significantly different happiness levels than urban middle-income individuals. A similar phenomenon was observed for life satisfaction, where rural individuals within the highest income group reported significantly higher scores than urban middle-income individuals. However, the effects of relative income on happiness were found to be inconclusive when analysing four waves during the period 2010-2019. To conclude, this study found that the extent to which there is a difference in the way relative income influences happiness of the urban and rural populations in England depends on the income groups and year considered.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
|---|---|
| Degree programme: | Economic Geography |
| Supervisor: | Ballas, D. |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Sep 2021 08:14 |
| Last Modified: | 14 Sep 2021 08:14 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3708 |
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