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Trust, Social Networks and Subjective Wellbeing in China

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Abstract

Using data from the World Values Survey, this study examines the associations among trust, social networks and subjective wellbeing in China. We address the endogenous nature of trust and social networks, and examine how these elements of social capital affect subjective wellbeing. We also explore the interplay between trust and social networks. Existing literature suggests that trust and social networks positively impact wellbeing, with one strand of the literature suggesting that in developed countries social capital is a stronger determinant of wellbeing than income. However, we find that this is not the case for China (a developing country) where the effects of trust and social networks on wellbeing are found to be relatively weaker compared to the effect of income.

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Notes

  1. For details on the WVS data, see www.worldvaluessurvey.org.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia

    Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Vinod Mishra

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  1. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill
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  2. Vinod Mishra
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Correspondence to Sefa Awaworyi Churchill.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 13, 14 and 15.

Table 13 Description of variables, world values survey
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Table 14 Provinces included in sample
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Table 15 Income level regressions (trust)
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Awaworyi Churchill, S., Mishra, V. Trust, Social Networks and Subjective Wellbeing in China. Soc Indic Res 132, 313–339 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1220-2

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