TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - The happiness gap in Eastern Europe
JO  - Journal of comparative economics
A1  - Djankov, Simeon
A1  - Nikolova, Elena
A1  - Zilinsky, Jan
SP  - 108
EP  - 124
VL  - 44
IS  - 1
N2  - Citizens in Eastern Europe are less satisfied with life than their peers in other countries. This happiness gap has persisted over time, despite predictions to the contrary by earlier scholars. It holds after controlling for a variety of covariates, such as the standard of living, life expectancy and Eastern Orthodox religion. Armed with a battery of surveys from the early 1990s to 2014, we argue that the happiness gap is explained by how citizens in post-communist countries perceive their governments. Eastern Europeans link their life satisfaction to higher perceived corruption and weaker government performance. Our results suggest that the transition from central planning is still incomplete, at least in the psychology of people.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0147-5967
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2015.10.006
ID  - ref1
ER  -