Changing Well-Being in Central Asia: Evidence from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
Sharipova D. Kudebayeva A.
March 2023Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
Journal of Happiness Studies
2023#24Issue 31233 - 1260 pp.
This article explains the puzzle why subjective well-being (SBW) declined in Kazakhstan and increased in Kyrgyzstan from 2011 to 2018. It examined the predictors of the change in SWB in two Central Asian states over this period. We found that freedom of choice and financial satisfaction are powerful factors that predict the change in SWB in the two states. In addition, we observed that SWB has changed differently for various social groups. In Kazakhstan SWB has increased for financially satisfied people and it has diminished for the financially dissatisfied people. In Kyrgyzstan, for both groups we observe the increase in life satisfaction. These results show that even within one state the change in SWB might vary from one group to another. As such, scholars should disaggregate various factors to understand a more nuanced dynamics of life satisfaction over time. In addition, the differences in economic and political contexts are important.
Central Asia , Development , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Subjective well-being
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Graduate School of Public Policy, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan
Department of Economics, KIMEP University, CERGE-EI Teaching Fellow, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Graduate School of Public Policy
Department of Economics
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