Local Expressions of Subjective Well-being: The New Zealand Experience

Abstract

Morrison P. S. Local expressions of subjective well-being: the New Zealand experience, Regional Studies. Students of regional science have been preoccupied with economic drivers while at the same time implicitly assuming that increasing urban size and density raises local well-being. However, the geography of happiness may not mirror the geography of growth. Rather, there is a localization to the paradox of affluence mainly because raising population density in order to realize agglomeration economies can lower subjective well-being. This paper offers empirical support for this proposition by estimating city fixed-effects for three separate measures of subjective well-being while controlling for the characteristics of individuals as well as their perceptions of accessibility and social capital.

Morrison P. S. Des témoignages locaux du bien-être subjectif: l'expérience néo-zélandaise, Regional Studies. Les étudiants de la science régionale ont été préoccupés par des forces motrices économiques en supposant implicitement et simultanément qu'une augmentation de la taille et de la densité urbaines améliore le bien-être local. Cependant, il se peut que la géographie du bonheur ne se reflète pas dans la géographie de la croissance. Il existe plutôt une localisation du paradoxe de l'abondance, essentiellement parce que l'augmentation de la densité de la population dans le but de réaliser des économies d'agglomération peut finir par une baisse du bien-être subjectif. Cet article cherche à fournir du soutien empirique en faveur de cette affirmation en estimant des effets fixes relatifs aux grandes villes employant trois mesures distinctes du bien-être subjectif, tout en tenant compte des caractéristiques des individus ainsi que de leurs perceptions de l'accessibilité et du capital social.

Bien-être subjectif Bonheur Satisfaction Qualité de la vie Grandes villes Nouvelle-Zélande

Morrison P. S. Lokale Ausdrucksformen von subjektivem Wohlbefinden: die Erfahrung von Neuseeland, Regional Studies. Beim Studium der Regionalwissenschaft wird vor allem auf wirtschaftliche Faktoren geachtet, während zugleich implizit angenommen wird, dass sich durch eine Steigerung der Stadtgröße und -dichte das Wohlbefinden der Menschen vor Ort erhöht. Die Geografie des Glücks ist jedoch nicht unbedingt ein Abbild der Geografie des Wachstums. Vielmehr liegt eine Lokalisierung des Wohlstandsparadoxons vor, insbesondere weil eine Erhöhung der Bevölkerungsdichte mit dem Ziel der Verwirklichung von Agglomerationswirtschaften zu einer Verringerung des subjektiven Wohlbefindens führen kann. Dieser Beitrag bietet empirische Belege für diese These in Form einer Schätzung der städtischen Fixeffekte auf drei separate Maßstäbe des subjektiven Wohlbefindens unter Berücksichtigung der Merkmale der Personen sowie ihrer Einschätzung hinsichtlich der Erreichbarkeit und des Sozialkapitals.

Subjektives Wohlbefinden Glück Zufriedenheit Lebensqualität Städte Neuseeland

Morrison P. S. Expresiones locales del bienestar subjetivo: la experiencia de Nueva Zelanda, Regional Studies. En los estudios de ciencia regional se presta atención a los impulsores económicos mientras que, al mismo tiempo, se supone implícitamente que al aumentar el tamaño y la densidad de las ciudades mejora el bienestar a nivel local. Sin embargo, la geografía de la felicidad no necesariamente refleja la geografía del crecimiento. Más bien existe una localización de la paradoja de la riqueza sobre todo porque al aumentar la densidad de la población para desarrollar las economías de aglomeración puede disminuir el bienestar subjetivo. En este artículo ofrecemos un apoyo empírico a esta proposición calculando los efectos fijos metropolitanos para tres mediciones por separado del bienestar subjetivo, controlando a la vez las características de los individuos así como sus percepciones de accesibilidad y capital social.

Bienestar subjetivo Felicidad Satisfacción Calidad de vida Ciudades Nueva Zelanda

Keywords:

• Subjective well-being
• Happiness
• Satisfaction
• Quality of life
• Cities
• New Zealand

JEL classifications:

• R11
• R13

Acknowledgements

This paper was conceived while the author was taking research and study leave in the tiny wine-growing village of Pouzolles in the Languedoc/Roussilion area of southern France in 2005. The idea was nurtured in the author's home town of Wellington, New Zealand, in 2006 and 2007, and written up on campus at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2008. Those familiar with one or more of these places will understand how one might come to wonder about how place affects one's sense of well-being. For the last of these study leaves the author wishes to thank the Department of Geography, UCLA, and his host, Professor William Clark. The author is indebted to the Science Faculty Research Committee of Victoria University of Wellington for granting the Research and Study Leave for the writing and the overseas Conference Leave Committee for supporting the presentation of this research. The author would also like to recognize the encouragement and assistance received from the Quality of Life Team and Ministry of Social Development in supplying the 2004 survey data and their willingness to answer tricky questions along the way. Finally, the author wishes to acknowledge the feedback received following presentations of various drafts of this paper: at the European Regional Science Association 48th Congress in Volos, Greece, 2006; at the 50th Congress in Liverpool, UK, 2008; and at the 24th Conference of the New Zealand Geographical Society, 2008. The responsibility for any errors in the paper remain the author's alone.

Notes

This quotation is taken from the late Denis Cosgrove's Introduction to Gomes (2005, p. ix). The present author wrote some of this paper while on sabbatical at the Department of Geography, University of California Los Angeles. Whilst doing so, he occupied Denis's office shortly after he died. It was still full of all his wonderful books and journals and his presence. This short quotation is offered in deep respect for Denis and his work.

For an overview of the central thesis and its wider implications, see Lane (2000). On the theoretical relationship between economic theory and human happiness, see Pasinetti (2005).

See especially Headey et al. (2006), Chapter 4: ‘Well-being: life satisfaction and stress – can they be measured in surveys?’.

See http://www.stats.govt.nz/nzgss/.

See http://www.bigcities.govt.nz/.

The level of stress and its persistence are additional quality-of-life measures also available from the Quality of Life survey used here. The view has been taken that stress is sufficiently different to be treated separately. For support for this approach, see Headey et al. (2006), pp. 88–90.

The three SWB variables are analysed separately in this paper. They are not independent, however, and simultaneous estimation could tap additional information about their joint behaviour.

The 2004 survey was administered over the last six months of 2004, mid-way between the March 2001 and March 2006 census. Therefore, the average of the two census populations is reported.

Since Don't knows (and Refused) were relatively rare, they were included in the base unless otherwise noted.

This increase in statistical variance explained by the model is similar in magnitude to the improvements Brereton et al. (2008) reported after including spatial variables, their pseudo-R ² reaching 0.16%, which, as they pointed out, ‘exceeds all those obtained to date in the international literature using a cross-sectional data set’ (p. 392). Whereas Brereton et al. entered the average ‘objective’ characteristics of the respondents' Electoral District, the perceptions of the respondent about accessibility and social capital are used herein. The fact that both should increase one's level of understanding of subjective well-being is noteworthy.

A more formal way of testing the returns to adding successive steps to the model is simply to test the statistical significance of the difference between successive models using the F-test. In no cases do these likelihood ratio tests fail to reject the hypothesis that they are the same, so each successive set of variables entering the model makes a difference (although in the Health and Education set, Education alone would have not passed this test as noted above). Since respondents rated both subjective well-being and accessibility, there is a chance that other ‘spurious’ attributes could raise or lower both ratings simultaneously, but as many controls as available have been included to help minimize this possibility.

The author has focused here solely on respondent perceptions of accessibility and social capital in their city. There is also evidence that people's views about the environment at a more abstract level also influence their well-being, concerns about ozone pollution, for example (Ferrer -i-Carbonell and Gowdy, 2007).