This chapter studies the impact of six main air pollutants on three key dimensions of subjective wellbeing (SWB): life satisfaction, hedonic happiness and mental health. The authors match a nationally representative survey in China with local air quality and weather conditions according to the exact date and county of each interview. By making use of variations in exposures to air pollution across similar respondents living in the same county, the authors find that particulate matter with a diameter smaller than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) reduces hedonic happiness and increases the rate of depressive symptoms, but does not affect life satisfaction. Their results show that the benefits of reducing air pollution would be higher if the hidden costs of air pollution on SWB in China are taken into account.
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your Elgar Online account
-
Front Matter
-
Part I: Social Sciences, Happiness and the Environment
-
Part II: Case Studies on Happiness and the Environment
-
Part III: Conclusion
