Public Sector Employment, Quality of Government, and Well-Being: A Global Analysis. (September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Davidson, Robert; Pacek, Alexander; Radcliff, Benjamin
• Is Part Of: International area studies review. Volume 24:Number 3(2021)
• Page Start: 193
• Page End: 204
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Subjects: Public -- employment -- well-being -- low income -- middle income; Area studies -- Periodicals; Area studies -- Korea (South) -- Periodicals; International economic relations -- Periodicals; Globalization -- Economic aspects -- Periodicals; Globalization -- Periodicals; World politics -- Periodicals; 337.05
• DOI: 10.1177/22338659211011747
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2233-8659

Abstract

While a growing literature within the study of subjective well-being demonstrates the impact of socio-political factors on subjective well-being, scholars have conspicuously failed to consider the role of the size and scope of government as determinants of well-being. Where such studies exist, the focus is largely on the advanced industrial democracies of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. In this study, we examine the size of the public sector as a determinant of cross-national variation in life satisfaction across a worldwide sample. Our findings strongly suggest that as the public sector grows, subjective well-being increases as well, conditional on the extent of quality of government. Using cross-sectional data on 84 countries, we show this relationship has an independent and separable impact from other economic and political factors.