Kuznets Curve
Ramin Amani; Abbas Assari Arani
Abstract
The central question of this study is whether greater use of the Earth’s resources can raise countries’ levels of happiness. To answer it, the paper examines the relationship between ecological footprint and happiness for two groups of countries—OECD and Middle Eastern—using a ...
Read More
The central question of this study is whether greater use of the Earth’s resources can raise countries’ levels of happiness. To answer it, the paper examines the relationship between ecological footprint and happiness for two groups of countries—OECD and Middle Eastern—using a dynamic panel model estimated by standard and two-step generalized method of moments over 2014–2024. The dependent variable is the Happiness Index, and the regressors include per capita ecological footprint and its squared term, the Human Development Index, general government expenditure, and institutional quality. The first lag of happiness is positive and statistically significant in both groups, confirming strong persistence, which is more pronounced in Middle Eastern countries. For OECD members, the ecological footprint has a negative coefficient while its squared term is positive, yielding a standard U-shaped relationship: higher resource use at low and medium levels reduces happiness, but beyond a threshold of about two global hectares per capita, additional use raises happiness. For Middle Eastern countries, the ecological footprint enters with a positive coefficient and its squared term with a negative coefficient, implying an inverted U-shape with a turning point around 2.5 global hectares per capita; greater resource use increases happiness only up to this level, after which its effect becomes negative. Overall, the results indicate that exploiting the Earth’s resources can support sustainable happiness only when accompanied by human development, effective governance, and sound, forward-looking and environmentally responsible resource management over time.
Haniyeh Sedaghat Kalmarzi; Shahram Fatahi; kiomars sohaili
Abstract
In this article, the interaction effects of growth and happiness in the framework of a dynamic simultaneous equations panel data model have been considered in the OPEC countries during the period of 2005–2016. Also, according to the resource curse hypothesis, the threshold effects of oil rent on ...
Read More
In this article, the interaction effects of growth and happiness in the framework of a dynamic simultaneous equations panel data model have been considered in the OPEC countries during the period of 2005–2016. Also, according to the resource curse hypothesis, the threshold effects of oil rent on both economic growth and happiness have been tested. The estimation results have indicated that the first lag of happiness has had an insignificant positive impact on economic growth but the first lag of economic growth has had a significant negative impact on happiness. In other words, it can be argued that the benefits of economic growth in the oil oriented countries under this study are not uniformly distributed across all parts of society. Also, in the framework of the mentioned model, the effect of oil rent on happiness and economic growth has been threshold. In other words, before the threshold of 26.25% of the ratio of oil rents to GDP, the oil rent had a positive effect on economic growth, but after the threshold, it had a negative effect on economic growth, which indicates the phenomenon of resource curse in OPEC countries. A similar result has been obtained on the effect of oil rent on happiness, so that before the threshold of 26.92% of the ratio of oil rent to GDP, oil rent has had a positive and significant effect on happiness, but after exceeding this threshold, oil rents have had a negative effect on happiness, which could reflect the existence of the Easterlin paradox in the countries.
Seyed Mojtaba Mojaverian; Fatemeh Kashiri Kolaei; Zabihollah Falahati
Volume 5, Issue 17 , December 2014, , Pages 22-11
Abstract
In recent years, the impact of non-economic incentives such as life satisfaction and beliefs of community has been examined on economic behavior, such as growth and per capita income. The purpose of this study is to identify the correlation between life satisfaction index and per capita income ...
Read More
In recent years, the impact of non-economic incentives such as life satisfaction and beliefs of community has been examined on economic behavior, such as growth and per capita income. The purpose of this study is to identify the correlation between life satisfaction index and per capita income with the intensity of religious beliefs. To this end, 2SLS estimator and cross-sectional data in 88 countries in 2010 were used. The results showed that the index of per capita income has a significant positive impact on life satisfaction. Also higher religious restrictions in communities were associated with less life satisfaction, and this shows government involvement in religious beliefs and consequently loss of life satisfaction. In addition, investment, government expenditure and trade variables have a positive and significant relationship with per capita income. Also, life satisfaction has a significant and positive effect on per capita income. Based on the used data in this study, there is a mutual relationship between life satisfaction and percapita income.
