Abstract
Gender equality and happiness are both of concern to academics, governments, and policymakers. Using data from a sample of eighty-four developing and emerging countries over the period 2006–2018, this article analyzes the impact of gender equality on happiness. By applying an instrumental variable approach, the results show that gender equality increases happiness in developing and emerging countries. Further investigations show that, the magnitude of the effect of gender equality on happiness is higher in democratic or high-income countries than in non-democratic or low-income countries. The results are robust to disaggregated measures of gender equality, excluding outliers, estimation strategies and indicate a positive relationship between gender equality and life satisfaction.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
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Notes on contributors
Hermann Ndoya
Hermann Ndoya is Consultant at The World Bank, Gender Global Practice, Washington, DC. Marie-Laure Belomo is an assistant Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Yaounde II-SOA. Donald Ferdinand Okere, and Michael Brice Talla are all at LAREFA, Faculty of Economics and Management, Department of Economics Policy Analysis, University of Dschang, Cameroon.
Marie-Laure Belomo
Hermann Ndoya is Consultant at The World Bank, Gender Global Practice, Washington, DC. Marie-Laure Belomo is an assistant Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Yaounde II-SOA. Donald Ferdinand Okere, and Michael Brice Talla are all at LAREFA, Faculty of Economics and Management, Department of Economics Policy Analysis, University of Dschang, Cameroon.
Donald Ferdinand Okere
Hermann Ndoya is Consultant at The World Bank, Gender Global Practice, Washington, DC. Marie-Laure Belomo is an assistant Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Yaounde II-SOA. Donald Ferdinand Okere, and Michael Brice Talla are all at LAREFA, Faculty of Economics and Management, Department of Economics Policy Analysis, University of Dschang, Cameroon.
Michael Brice Talla
Hermann Ndoya is Consultant at The World Bank, Gender Global Practice, Washington, DC. Marie-Laure Belomo is an assistant Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Yaounde II-SOA. Donald Ferdinand Okere, and Michael Brice Talla are all at LAREFA, Faculty of Economics and Management, Department of Economics Policy Analysis, University of Dschang, Cameroon.