What leads to a happy life? Subjective well-being in Alaska, China, and Australia ...

• Main Author: Wu, Fengyu author
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Southern California Digital Library (USC.DL) 2018
• Subjects: Economics degree program; Doctor of Philosophy degree; College of Letters, Arts and Sciences school; inuit; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-16734; https://digitallibrary.usc.edu/asset-management/2A3BF1W00NNG

This work presents new evidence on the determinants of subjective well-being, as measured by life satisfaction, in three quite different populations. Chapter 2 studies the Inuit, an indigenous hunter-gatherer population living on the barren northernmost fringes of Alaska. My analysis indicates that the key factors that contribute to their life satisfaction are health, subsistence hunting and fishing, and social support. In addition, the Inuit are more satisfied with their life if they have both Christian religious beliefs and indigenous spiritual beliefs as part of their life. Surprisingly, a higher level of wage income is associated with a lower level of life satisfaction, a finding that challenges common preconceptions about the effects of modernization and points to the importance of non-wage subsistence activities as a preferred substitute for wage employment for this population. Chapter 3 examines the well-being of the elderly population in China, a country characterized by a traditional ...