Does Gender Equality Promote Happiness in Developing Countries?

Abstract

Gender equality and happiness are both of concern to academics, governments, and policymakers. Using data from a sample of eighty-four developing and emerging countries over the period 2006–2018, this article analyzes the impact of gender equality on happiness. By applying an instrumental variable approach, the results show that gender equality increases happiness in developing and emerging countries. Further investigations show that, the magnitude of the effect of gender equality on happiness is higher in democratic or high-income countries than in non-democratic or low-income countries. The results are robust to disaggregated measures of gender equality, excluding outliers, estimation strategies and indicate a positive relationship between gender equality and life satisfaction.

Keywords:

• gender equality
• happiness
• life satisfaction

JEL Classification Codes:

• I10
• I31
• J16

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hermann Ndoya

Hermann Ndoya is Consultant at The World Bank, Gender Global Practice, Washington, DC. Marie-Laure Belomo is an assistant Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Yaounde II-SOA. Donald Ferdinand Okere, and Michael Brice Talla are all at LAREFA, Faculty of Economics and Management, Department of Economics Policy Analysis, University of Dschang, Cameroon.

Marie-Laure Belomo

Hermann Ndoya is Consultant at The World Bank, Gender Global Practice, Washington, DC. Marie-Laure Belomo is an assistant Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Yaounde II-SOA. Donald Ferdinand Okere, and Michael Brice Talla are all at LAREFA, Faculty of Economics and Management, Department of Economics Policy Analysis, University of Dschang, Cameroon.

Donald Ferdinand Okere

Hermann Ndoya is Consultant at The World Bank, Gender Global Practice, Washington, DC. Marie-Laure Belomo is an assistant Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Yaounde II-SOA. Donald Ferdinand Okere, and Michael Brice Talla are all at LAREFA, Faculty of Economics and Management, Department of Economics Policy Analysis, University of Dschang, Cameroon.

Michael Brice Talla

Hermann Ndoya is Consultant at The World Bank, Gender Global Practice, Washington, DC. Marie-Laure Belomo is an assistant Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Yaounde II-SOA. Donald Ferdinand Okere, and Michael Brice Talla are all at LAREFA, Faculty of Economics and Management, Department of Economics Policy Analysis, University of Dschang, Cameroon.