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Environmental Quality and Life Satisfaction: Subjective Versus Objective Measures of Air Quality

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of objective air quality on individual life satisfaction (LS) through the moderating effect of perceived air quality on the latter. Unlike previous studies, we incorporates both of the data from the 2010 Taiwan Social Change Survey and the monthly mean of Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) from fixed air quality monitoring stations to understand their association with individual well-being. A two-stage estimation approach is employed, in which individual perceived subjective air quality level is employed as an explanatory variable in LS regression models. The results show that the objective measure of air quality, PSI, is significantly associated with the perceived air quality and with LS, respectively. When the endogeneity of perceived air quality is considered in the relationship between objective air quality and life satisfaction, the results indicate that the perceived air quality has a positive influence on LS, while the effect of objective measure of air quality on the latter becomes insignificant. In sum, the objective air quality has an indirect effect, but no direct effect, on LS. Furthermore, individual’s age, gender, health, and variables of environmental experience and behaviors are found to be significant determinants of LS. Discussions on the findings are provided.

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Notes

  1. There exists the known causal relationships between objective indicators of air quality, health status, and life satisfaction. However, the relationship between health status and objective air quality is weak and ambiguous.

  2. PM10 refers to a particle with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less. Sources of particle matter can be dust on the street, the burning of fossil fuels in vehicles, open combustion, construction works, and agricultural plowing. If other pollutants adhere to those particles, they will reinforce harmfulness to the respiratory system. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is mainly generated from the combustion of petroleum or coal. It is a colorless gas with a penetrating odor, and easily dissolves in water to form sulfurous acid. It can oxidize to the sulfate in the air that is the main substance that causes acid rain. Nitrogen dioxide is a kind of red-brown gas with a stimulative smell, and easily dissolves in water to form nitrous acid and nitric acid. The oxidization of nitrate is one of the factors causing acid rain. Ozone is one kind of secondary pollutant that is generated by nitrogen oxides or reactive hydrocarbons after they are activated by the sunlight. It is a highly active oxidization gas, and stimulative to the respiratory system in that it will cause coughing, asthma, headaches, weariness, and lung injuries, especially affecting children, the old, patients, and those exercising outdoors. Carbon monoxide is generated by the incomplete combustion of petrochemical fuels. It is colorless, smell-less and lighter than air.

  3. Such an approach has been used in previous studies in related to life satisfaction and perceived environmental quality (Van Praag and Baarsma 2005; Rehdanz and Maddison 2008; MacKerron and Mourato 2009) as well as objective measure of air quality.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei, 115, Taiwan

    Pei-shan Liao

  2. Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei, 115, Taiwan

    Daigee Shaw

  3. Department of Applied Economics, National Chiayi University, Chiayi, 600, Taiwan

    Yih-ming Lin

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  1. Pei-shan Liao
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  2. Daigee Shaw
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Liao, Ps., Shaw, D. & Lin, Ym. Environmental Quality and Life Satisfaction: Subjective Versus Objective Measures of Air Quality. Soc Indic Res 124, 599–616 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0799-z

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