Happiness in the tropics: climate variables and subjective wellbeing

Changes in climatic patterns are expected to have significant effects on health and wellbeing. However, the literature on the effect of climate on subjective wellbeing remains scant and existing studies focus mostly on developed countries or cross-country analyses. This paper aims to identify the re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environment and development economics Vol. 27; no. 3; pp. 250 - 271
Main Author: Zapata, Oscar
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.06.2022
Subjects:
Case studies
Climate
Climate change
Climate effects
Climatic conditions
cold
Collaboration
Developed countries
Econometrics
Ecuador
education
Emotions
Employment
Happiness
Heat
Humidity
income
Industrialized nations
Municipalities
people
Precipitation
Temperature
Temperature effects
Tropical environments
Variables
Well being
Ecuador
Ecuador
Q54
I150
happiness
wellbeing
I310
health
climate
ISSN:1355-770X, 1469-4395, 1469-4395
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Changes in climatic patterns are expected to have significant effects on health and wellbeing. However, the literature on the effect of climate on subjective wellbeing remains scant and existing studies focus mostly on developed countries or cross-country analyses. This paper aims to identify the relationship between climate conditions on happiness after controlling for individual and social characteristics. Ecuador, a geographically fragmented country with varying climate conditions across municipalities, constitutes an ideal case study to assess the effect of climate variables on happiness. We employ a cross-section analysis to identify the effect of temperature, precipitation and humidity on happiness. The paper shows that climate conditions constitute an important determinant of people's subjective wellbeing. The results also suggest that income and education attenuate the effect of temperature on happiness and that substantial differences are observed depending on whether places are hot/humid or cold/dry.
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ISSN:1355-770X
1469-4395
1469-4395
DOI:10.1017/S1355770X21000267