Economic aspect of happiness and its determinants: a case study in East and Southeast Asian countries

Abstract

The research question of this study is: What are the determinants of happiness in the economic aspect? According to this research question, a large amount of literature was reviewed, and some hypotheses were put forward. After that, we defined our research goals as: 1). Find the determinants of happiness under the development of economics, family, and individual. 2). Compare and analyse the priorities in considering of happiness in different countries. Attempt to compare with the research results of existing happiness economics research. Subsequently, the wave7 survey data in the World Value Survey was adopted as the data for analysis. After establishing the theoretical model and the analysis model, analyse the data using LASSO regression and truncated regression methods. The main findings are a). Countries with high per capita GDP have less impact on happiness than countries with low per capita GDP. b). The development of science and technology will enhance happiness. c). The financial status of a family has a significant impact on happiness. d). For some countries in East Asia, unemployment will reduce happiness. But in some countries in Southeast Asia, unemployment can increase happiness. e). Having or not having religious beliefs does affect happiness. f). In every country, the impact of health and life security on happiness is significant. g). In most countries, the long-term performance of happiness, which is life satisfaction, dominates the composition of happiness. In the last part, based on our findings, some policy implications are proposed, and the limitations of the research are also analysed. Finally, some suggestions for future research are put forward.