Unequally Happy: Happiness Inequality Across Satisfaction Domains in a Developing-Country Context

Abstract

Subjective measures of well-being, such as happiness, occupy a rapidly growing body in the academic literature. However, how happiness levels are distributed across populations and social groups is less well known, especially in the context of developing countries. In this paper, I study happiness inequality at the district level in Ecuador, considering diverse domains of individual satisfaction. Concretely, I calculate Gini coefficients for happiness domains and identify the determinants of happiness inequality levels using a panel dataset for 584 districts over three years. The findings show that happiness inequality is lower regarding overall satisfaction and satisfaction with marital status and social life and higher regarding work and financial conditions, and the government. The results also suggest that average happiness level and income inequality are consistent determinants of happiness inequality. Lastly, I divide the sample by gender, place of residence, ethnicity and education levels to explore the differences across population groups. Policy discussion and implications follow the quantitative analysis.