Subjective Well-being and Its Determinants in China: An Empirical Study Based on Survey Data

Abstract

Using household survey data collected in 2013, this paper empirically investigates the determinants of individual subjective well-being in China, where there has been rapid economic development over the past three decades. The main results are as follows. First, factors such as good health, marital status, life satisfaction, body mass index, physical exercise, and expectations of inflation are all significantly correlated with the reported level of happiness. Second, income has no significant effect on the level of happiness, and happiness has an inverted U-shaped relationship to wealth. Third, increased education decreases the level of happiness. To some extent, these findings can explain why subjective well-being has declined in China, despite its spectacular economic growth.