Abstract
Over the 1990–2000 decade happiness in China plummeted despite massive improvement in material living standards. This finding contradicts the notion that income growth at low living standards leads to gains, not losses, in happiness. We explain this puzzle by drawing on a specific version of relative deprivation theory, the concept of “frustrated achievers.” Our major finding is that income inequality in China became increasingly skewed towards the upper income strata, so that related to the average income the financial position of most Chinese worsened. Consequently, financial dissatisfaction rose and became an increasingly important factor in depressing happiness. Other negative feelings emerging with rapid transitions, such as anomie and disaffection, show a less depressive effect on Chinese happiness. We conclude with some speculations about the applicability of our findings to transition economies in general.
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Notes
Inflation did not undermine the accelerated economic growth during the 1990s, although the national consumer price index rose by 109% between 1990 and 1996, but dropped sharply down to 0.7% between 1996 and 2000. During the entire decade, GDP prices deflated by factor 1.9 (UN 2006). Also, between 1990 and 2000 the exchange rate of 1 US dollar increased moderately from 5.0 Yuan to 8.5 Yuan.
The poverty line is drawn at 300 Yuan per person per year at 1990 prices (Ravallion and Chen 2007, p. 5).
“In China, to get rich is glorious”, Business Week, February 6, 2006. Retrieved September 14, 2007 from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_06/b3970072.htm.
See footnote 3.
The results for rural areas are similar.
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Brockmann, H., Delhey, J., Welzel, C. et al. The China Puzzle: Falling Happiness in a Rising Economy. J Happiness Stud 10, 387–405 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-008-9095-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-008-9095-4