Perceived Environmental Quality and Subjective Well-Being: Are African Countries Different from Developed Countries?

International Journal of Happiness and Development , Vol. 3, No. 1, 2016

24 Pages Posted: 26 May 2016

See all articles by Iddisah Sulemana

Iddisah Sulemana

University of Ghana

Laura McCann

University of Missouri at Columbia

Harvey S. James, Jr.

University of Missouri at Columbia - Division of Applied Social Sciences

Date Written: Dec 2015

Abstract

An important literature examines the effect of environmental quality on self-reported measures of well-being. Some studies have focused on objective indicators of environmental quality, while other studies have explored how perceptions about environmental quality are correlated with happiness. However, there is little research examining the relationship between perceptions of environmental quality and subjective well-being in African countries. In this paper, we examine how people’s perceptions about local environmental quality (poor water, poor air, and poor sanitation/sewer) and global environmental quality (global warming, loss of animal and plant species, and pollution of water bodies) are correlated with their well-being in a cross-country sample using data from the World Values Survey. We find a negative correlation between perceptions about the poorness of local environmental quality and subjective well-being for both developed and African countries. However, only in developed countries is there a negative correlation between perceptions about the poorness of global environmental quality and subjective well-being.

Keywords: African Countries, Developed Countries, Happiness, Perceived Environmental Quality, Subjective Well-Being

JEL Classification: O44, Q50, Q53, Q56

Suggested Citation

Sulemana, Iddisah and McCann, Laura and James, Harvey S., Perceived Environmental Quality and Subjective Well-Being: Are African Countries Different from Developed Countries? (Dec 2015). International Journal of Happiness and Development , Vol. 3, No. 1, 2016 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2783842

Iddisah Sulemana

University of Ghana ( email )

Department of Economics
P. O. Box LG 57
Accra, Greater Accra 00233
Ghana

Laura McCann

University of Missouri at Columbia

Columbia, MO Columbia 65211
United States

Harvey S. James (Contact Author)

University of Missouri at Columbia - Division of Applied Social Sciences ( email )

Columbia, MO
United States
573-884-9682 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://hsjames2.wordpress.com

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