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Government and Happiness in 130 Nations: Good Governance Fosters Higher Level and More Equality of Happiness
There are substantial differences in happiness in nations. Average happiness on scale 0–10 ranges in 2006 from 3.24 in Togo to 8.00 in Denmark and the inequality of happiness, as measured by the standard deviation, ranges from 0.85 in Laos to 3.02 in the Dominican Republic. Much of these differences...
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Formato: | Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Springer Netherlands
2010
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3068254/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21516144 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9719-z |
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author | Ott, J. C. |
author_facet | Ott, J. C. |
author_sort | Ott, J. C. |
collection | PubMed |
description | There are substantial differences in happiness in nations. Average happiness on scale 0–10 ranges in 2006 from 3.24 in Togo to 8.00 in Denmark and the inequality of happiness, as measured by the standard deviation, ranges from 0.85 in Laos to 3.02 in the Dominican Republic. Much of these differences are due to quality of governance and in particular to ‘technical’ quality. Once a minimum level is reached, rising technical quality boosts average happiness proportionally. Good governance does not only produce a higher level of happiness, but also lowers inequality of happiness among citizens. The relation between good governance and inequality of happiness is not linear, but follows a bell shaped pattern, inequality of happiness being highest in nations where the quality of government is at a medium level. The relation between the size of government and average happiness depends heavily on the quality of government; good-big government adds to happiness but bad-big government does not. Possible explanations of these findings are discussed. |
format | Text |
id | pubmed-3068254 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2010 |
publisher | Springer Netherlands |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-30682542011-04-21 Government and Happiness in 130 Nations: Good Governance Fosters Higher Level and More Equality of Happiness Ott, J. C. Soc Indic Res Article There are substantial differences in happiness in nations. Average happiness on scale 0–10 ranges in 2006 from 3.24 in Togo to 8.00 in Denmark and the inequality of happiness, as measured by the standard deviation, ranges from 0.85 in Laos to 3.02 in the Dominican Republic. Much of these differences are due to quality of governance and in particular to ‘technical’ quality. Once a minimum level is reached, rising technical quality boosts average happiness proportionally. Good governance does not only produce a higher level of happiness, but also lowers inequality of happiness among citizens. The relation between good governance and inequality of happiness is not linear, but follows a bell shaped pattern, inequality of happiness being highest in nations where the quality of government is at a medium level. The relation between the size of government and average happiness depends heavily on the quality of government; good-big government adds to happiness but bad-big government does not. Possible explanations of these findings are discussed. Springer Netherlands 2010-10-26 2011 /pmc/articles/PMC3068254/ /pubmed/21516144 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9719-z Text en © The Author(s) 2010 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Article Ott, J. C. Government and Happiness in 130 Nations: Good Governance Fosters Higher Level and More Equality of Happiness |
title | Government and Happiness in 130 Nations: Good Governance Fosters Higher Level and More Equality of Happiness |
title_full | Government and Happiness in 130 Nations: Good Governance Fosters Higher Level and More Equality of Happiness |
title_fullStr | Government and Happiness in 130 Nations: Good Governance Fosters Higher Level and More Equality of Happiness |
title_full_unstemmed | Government and Happiness in 130 Nations: Good Governance Fosters Higher Level and More Equality of Happiness |
title_short | Government and Happiness in 130 Nations: Good Governance Fosters Higher Level and More Equality of Happiness |
title_sort | government and happiness in 130 nations: good governance fosters higher level and more equality of happiness |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3068254/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21516144 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9719-z |
work_keys_str_mv | AT ottjc governmentandhappinessin130nationsgoodgovernancefostershigherlevelandmoreequalityofhappiness |