Do the internet, economic growth, and environmental quality spur people's happiness during Covid-19 pandemic?

Authors

  • Dang Bui Hong Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry
  • Thang Do Van Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry
  • Ngoc Bui Hoang Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1285/i20705948v17n1p20

Keywords:

Bayesian inference, COVID-19 pandemic, happiness, economic growth, environmental quality

Abstract

Factors affecting people's happiness have attracted much attention in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper was conducted to investigate whether internet use, economic growth, and environmental quality improvements can ease psychological darns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the context of Southeast countries, and by applying the Bayesian inference, the findings of this study are summarized: (i) internet use and economic growth positively drive people's happiness; (ii) the effect of environmental quality on happiness is unclear in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on this evidence, the study suggests practical implications for policymakers in boosting economic growth and enhancing people's happiness.

Author Biographies

Dang Bui Hong, Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry

Dr. Dang is the Vice-Rector of Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He is a expert in Human Resource Management.

Thang Do Van, Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry

Dr. Thang is a lecturer of Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He is a expert in economic development, and environmental pollution.

Ngoc Bui Hoang, Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry

Ngoc Ph.D. is a lecturer at the Faculty of Business Administration, Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry, Vietnam. He studies applied and theoretical econometrics. His research interests include tourism development, energy consumption, environmental pollution, institutions quality, sustainable development, and poverty. His research has chiefly been in the areas of the use of high-dimensional statistical methods in economic applications, by using dynamics spatial regression, autoregressive distributed lag, non-linear ARDL, Quantile ARDL, Quantile on Quantile, and Wavelet approaches. He has published 31 articles in journals listed in the SSCI, SCIE, and Scopus databases.

References

Aksoy, F., & Bayram Arlı, N. (2020). Evaluation of sustainable happiness with Sustainable Development Goals: Structural equation model approach. Sustainable Development, 28(1), 385-392.

Altomonte, S., Allen, J., Bluyssen, P. M., Brager, G., Heschong, L., Loder, A., . . . Wargocki, P. (2020). Ten questions concerning well-being in the built environment. Building and Environment, 180, 106949.

Ashrae, A. (2013). Standard 55-2013: Thermal environmental conditions for human occupancy. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. Atlanta.

Cai, H., Yuan, J., Su, Z., Wang, X., Huang, Z., Jing, Y., & Yang, Z. (2023). Does Economic Growth Raise Happiness in China? A Comprehensive Reexamination. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 14(2), 238-248.

Cavanaugh, C., Gillan, K. J., Kromrey, J., Hess, M., & Blomeyer, R. (2004). Effects of Distance Education on K-12 Student Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis. Naperville, IL: Learning Point Associate.

Clark, A. E., Flèche, S., & Senik, C. (2016). Economic Growth Evens Out Happiness: Evidence from Six Surveys. Review of Income and Wealth, 62(3), 405-419.

Cole, W. M. (2019). Wealth and health revisited: Economic growth and wellbeing in developing countries, 1970 to 2015. Social Science Research, 77, 45-67.

Cuñado, J., & de Gracia, F. P. (2013). Environment and Happiness: New Evidence for Spain. Social indicators research, 112(3), 549-567.

Chong, T. T. L., Li, X., & Yip, C. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on ASEAN. Economic and Political Studies, 9(2), 166-185.

Chou, H. T. G., & Edge, N. (2012). “They are happier and having better lives than I am”: The impact of using Facebook on perceptions of others' lives. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(2), 117-121.

Chu, D.-T., Vu Ngoc, S.-M., Vu Thi, H., Nguyen Thi, Y.-V., Ho, T.-T., Hoang, V.-T., . . . Al-Tawfiq, J. A. (2022). COVID-19 in Southeast Asia: current status and perspectives. Bioengineered, 13(2), 3797-3809.

Deaton, A. (2008). Income, health, and well-being around the world: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll. Journal of Economic perspectives, 22(2), 53-72.

Easterlin, R. A. (2015). Happiness and Economic Growth – The Evidence. In W. Glatzer, L. Camfield, V. Møller, & M. Rojas (Eds.), Global Handbook of Quality of Life: Exploration of Well-Being of Nations and Continents (pp. 283-299). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A., & Gowdy, J. M. (2007). Environmental degradation and happiness. Ecological economics, 60(3), 509-516.

Kassing, J.W., Sanderson, J. (2010). Fan–Athlete Interaction and Twitter Tweeting Through the Giro: A Case Study. International Journal of Sport Communication, 3(1), 113-128.

Kitzes, J., Galli, A., Bagliani, M., Barrett, J., Dige, G., Ede, S., . . . Hails, C. (2009). A research agenda for improving national Ecological Footprint accounts. Ecological economics, 68(7), 1991-2007.

Knight, K. W., & Rosa, E. A. (2011). The environmental efficiency of well-being: A cross-national analysis. Social Science Research, 40(3), 931-949.

Kross, E.; Demiralp, E.; Verduyn, P.(2013). Facebook Use Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults. Plos One, 8, 1-7.

Helliwell, J.F., Huang, H., & Wang, S. (2017). The Distribution of World Happiness. World Happiness Report.

Mahadea, D., & Rawat, T. (2008). Economic growth, income and happiness: an exploratory study South African Journal of Economics, 76(2), 276-290.

Oishi, S., & Kesebir, S. (2015). Income inequality explains why economic growth does not always translate to an increase in happiness. Psychological science, 26(10), 1630-1638.

Oishi, S., Kesebir, S., & Diener, E. (2011). Income inequality and happiness. Psychological science, 22(9), 1095-1100.

Olsson, L. E., Gärling, T., Ettema, D., Friman, M., & Fujii, S. (2013). Happiness and Satisfaction with Work Commute. Social indicators research, 111(1), 255-263.

Rehdanz, K., & Maddison, D. (2008). Local environmental quality and life-satisfaction in Germany. Ecological economics, 64(4), 787-797.

Shakya, H.B., & Christakis, N.A. (2017). Association of Facebook Use with Compromised Well-Being: A Longitudinal Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 185(3), 203-211.

Schimmack, U., Schupp, J., & Wagner, G. G. (2008). The Influence of Environment and Personality on the Affective and Cognitive Component of Subjective Well-being. Social indicators research, 89(1), 41-60.

Smid, S. C., McNeish, D., Miočević, M., & van de Schoot, R. (2020). Bayesian Versus Frequentist Estimation for Structural Equation Models in Small Sample Contexts: A Systematic Review. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 27(1), 131-161.

Steinberger, J. K., Roberts, J. T., Peters, G. P., & Baiocchi, G. (2012). Pathways of human development and carbon emissions embodied in trade. Nature Climate Change, 2(2), 81-85.

Tandoc, E. C., Ferrucci, P., & Duffy, M. (2015). Facebook use, envy, and depression among college students: Is facebooking depressing? Computers in Human Behavior, 43, 139-146

Tyrväinen, L., Ojala, A., Korpela, K., Lanki, T., Tsunetsugu, Y., & Kagawa, T. (2014). The influence of urban green environments on stress relief measures: A field experiment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 38, 1-9.

Valkenburg, P. M., Peter, J., & Schouten, A. P. (2006). Friend Networking Sites and Their Relationship to Adolescents' Well-Being and Social Self-Esteem. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 9(5), 584-90

van der Lee, C., Gatt, A., van Miltenburg, E., & Krahmer, E. (2021). Human evaluation of automatically generated text: Current trends and best practice guidelines. Computer Speech & Language, 67, 101151.

van Uden-Kraan CF, Drossaert CH, Taal E, Seydel ER, van de Laar MA. (2009). Participation in online patient support groups endorses patients' empowerment. Patient Education and Counseling, 74(1), 61-9

Wang, B. Z., & Cheng, Z. (2017). Environmental Perceptions, Happiness and Pro-environmental Actions in China. Social indicators research, 132(1), 357-375.

Wellman, B., Haase, A. Q., Witte, J., & Hampton, K. (2001). Does the Internet Increase, Decrease, or Supplement Social Capital? American Behavioral Scientist, 45(3), 436-455.

WHO, L. (1948). Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19-22 June, 1946. Geneva, Switzerland, 2.

Wilson, E. O. (1986). Biophilia: Harvard university press.

Wilson, E. O. (2006). Naturalist: Island Press.

Xiang, L., Tang, M., Yin, Z., Zheng, M., & Lu, S. (2021). The COVID-19 pandemic and economic growth: theory and simulation. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 741525.

Zheng, S., Wang, J., Sun, C., Zhang, X., & Kahn, M. E. (2019). Air pollution lowers Chinese urbanites’ expressed happiness on social media. Nature Human Behaviour, 3(3), 237-243.

Zondervan-Zwijnenburg, M., Depaoli, S., Peeters, M., & van de Schoot, R. (2019). Pushing the limits: The performance of maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimation with small and unbalanced samples in a latent growth model. Methodology: European Journal of Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, 15(1), 31-43.

Downloads

Published

15-03-2024