既患寡也患不均:相对生活水平与居民幸福感

Worrying about Both Scarcity and Inequity:Relative Living Standards and Happiness

本文基于2021年中国社会状况综合调查数据,实证研究相对生活水平对居民幸福感的影响,并采用工具变量法、倾向得分匹配法和替换变量法进行内生性处理和稳健性检验。结果表明:相对生活水平提升对幸福感具有显著的促进效应;夏普利分解法表明,相对生活水平对居民幸福感的解释力居于首位,贡献率高达57.53%;相对生活水平提升居民的社会公平感知和社会宽容水平,进而促进居民幸福感状况的改善。此外,基于不同参照群体形成的相对生活水平评价均对居民幸福感有显著正向影响,且随着参照群体范围的扩大,影响强度趋于下降。群体异质性分析显示,城乡间和性别间在相对生活水平对居民幸福感的影响强度上不具有显著的异质性。因此,优化收入分配状况、改善居民生活水平、缩小居民收入差距、扩大中等收入群体、增强居民公平感知和社会宽容度,是提高居民幸福感的重要途径。

Based on the Chinese Social Survey conducted in 2021,this study examines the impact of relative living standards on happiness.The study validates the results using the instrumental variable,propensity score matching,and substitution variable methods for endogenous treatment and robustness tests.The findings reveal that relative living standard has a significant positive impact on happiness.The Shapley decomposition method indicates that relative living standards have the strongest explanatory power for happiness,with a contribution rate of 57.53%.Furthermore,relative living standards can enhance people's perception of social justice and tolerance,promoting their happiness.The study also reveals that different reference groups positively impact happiness.However,the impact intensity tends to decline with the expansion of reference groups.The heterogeneity analysis shows no significant difference in the intensity of the influence of relative living standards on people's happiness between urban and rural areas and genders.Therefore,optimizing income distribution,improving living standards,narrowing the income gap,expanding the middle-income group,and enhancing people's perception of fairness and social tolerance are crucial to enhancing happiness.