Have a personal or library account? Click to login

Happiness in the European Union: A Panel Regression Model and TOPSIS Analysis

Open Access
|Jul 2025

References

  1. Abdur Rahman, A., & Veenhoven, R. (2018). Freedom and Happiness in Nations: A Research Synthesis. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 13(2), 435–456. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-017-9543-6
  2. Akgun, A. İ., Türkoğlu, S. P., & Erikli, S. (2022). Investigating the determinants of happiness index in EU-27 countries: A quantile regression approach. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 43(1/2), 156–177. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-01-2022-0005
  3. Amati, V., Meggiolaro, S., Rivellini, G., & Zaccarin, S. (2018). Social relations and life satisfaction: The role of friends. Genus, 74(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41118-018-0032-z
  4. Azizi, M., Mohamadian, F., Ghajarieah, M., & Direkvand-Moghadam, A. (2017). The Effect of Individual Factors, Socioeconomic and Social Participation on Individual Happiness: A Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research: JCDR, 11(6), VC01– VC04. https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2017/24658.9982
  5. Behera, D. K., Rahut, D. B., Padmaja, M., & Dash, A. K. (2024). Socioeconomic determinants of happiness: Empirical evidence from developed and developing countries. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 109, 102187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2024.102187
  6. Bradburn, N. M. (1969). The Structure of Psychological Well-Being. American Sociological Review, 35(5), 948. https://doi.org/10.2307/2093340
  7. Brulé, G., & Veenhoven, R. (2014). Freedom and happiness in nations: Why the Finns are happier than the French. Psychology of Well-Being, 4(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13612-014-0017-4
  8. Cantril, H. (1966). The pattern of human concerns. Rutgers University Press.
  9. Ciucu (Durnoi), A.-N., Stoychev, K., Delcea, C., Vargas, V. M., & Pauna, C. (2024). Regional SDG Performance in Bulgaria and Romania: Poverty, Education, and Decent Work. Amfiteatru Economic, 26(Special 18), 1208. https://doi.org/10.24818/EA/2024/S18/1208
  10. Coronicova Hurajova, J., & Hajduova, Z. (2021). Multiple-Criteria Decision Analysis Using TOPSIS and WSA Method for Quality of Life: The Case of Slovakia Regions. Mathematics, 9(19), 2440. https://doi.org/10.3390/math9192440
  11. Croissant, Y., & Millo, G. (2008). Panel Data Econometrics in R: The plm Package. Journal of Statistical Software, 27(2). https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v027.i02
  12. Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95(3), 542–575. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.95.3.542
  13. Diener, E., & Oishi, S. (2000). Money and happiness: Income and subjective well-being across nations. In Culture and subjective well-being (pp. 185–218). The MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2352-0_2
  14. Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125(2), 276–302. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.125.2.276
  15. Eysenck, M. W. (2024). Happiness: Facts and Myths. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003471394
  16. Fernandez-Portero, C., Amian, J. G., Alarcón, D., Arenilla Villalba, M. J., & Sánchez-Medina, J. A. (2023). The Effect of Social Relationships on the Well-Being and Happiness of Older Adults Living Alone or with Relatives. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 11(2), 222. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11020222
  17. Gujarati, D. N. (2003). Basic econometrics (4. ed). McGraw Hill.
  18. Hausman, J. A. (1978). Specification Tests in Econometrics. Econometrica, 46(6), 1251. https://doi.org/10.2307/1913827
  19. Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R., Sachs, J. D., Aknin, L. B., De Neve, J.-E., & Wang, S. (2023). World Happiness Report 2023 (11th ed.). Sustainable Development Solutions Network. 978-1-7348080-5-6
  20. Hwang, C.-L., & Yoon, K. (1981). Multiple Attribute Decision Making (Vol. 186). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-48318-9
  21. Jigani, A., Ciucu Durnoi, A.-N., Delcea, C., & Chiriță, N. (2024). Towards Sustainable Happiness: Examining the Impact of CSR on Employee Well-Being. Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, 18(1), 1425–1440. https://doi.org/10.2478/picbe-2024-0117
  22. Jordan, S., & Philips, A. Q. (2023). Improving the Interpretation of Random Effects Regression Results. Political Studies Review, 21(1), 210–220. https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299211068418
  23. Koohborfardhaghighi, S., Summers, C., Heshmati, A., & Altmann, J. (2022). Influence of Freedom of Choice on Happiness. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4118216
  24. Lawrence, E. M., Rogers, R. G., & Wadsworth, T. (2015). Happiness and longevity in the United States. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 145, 115–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.09.020
  25. Levin, K. A., & Currie, C. (2014). Reliability and Validity of an Adapted Version of the Cantril Ladder for Use with Adolescent Samples. Social Indicators Research, 119(2), 1047–1063.
  26. Li, C., Wang, S., Zhao, Y., Kong, F., & Li, J. (2017). The Freedom to Pursue Happiness: Belief in Free Will Predicts Life Satisfaction and Positive Affect among Chinese Adolescents. Frontiers in Psychology, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02027
  27. Li, Q., & An, L. (2020). Corruption Takes Away Happiness: Evidence from a Cross-National Study. Journal of Happiness Studies, 21(2), 485–504. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00092-z
  28. Ma, J., Guo, B., & Yu, Y. (2022). Perception of Official Corruption, Satisfaction With Government Performance, and Subjective Wellbeing—An Empirical Study From China. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 748704. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.748704
  29. Mateusz, P., Danuta, M., Małgorzata, Ł., Mariusz, B., & Kesra, N. (2018). TOPSIS and VIKOR methods in study of sustainable development in the EU countries. Procedia Computer Science, 126, 1683–1692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2018.08.109
  30. Moeini, B., Barati, M., Farhadian, M., & Ara, M. H. (2018). The Association between Social Support and Happiness among Elderly in Iran. Korean Journal of Family Medicine, 39(4), 260–265. https://doi.org/10.4082/kjfm.17.0121
  31. Monsef, A., Moalemi, M., Biyabani, J., Nejati, M., & Taherizadeh, J. (2019). Investigating Economic Factors Affecting Happiness in Selected Countries: Panel Threshold Regression Approach. Economic Growth and Development Research, 9(36), 15–34. https://doi.org/10.30473/egdr.2019.43005.4976
  32. Ortiz-Ospina, E., & Roser, M. (2017). Happiness and Life Satisfaction. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/happiness-and-life-satisfaction
  33. Ortiz-Ospina, E., & Roser, M. (2023). Happiness and Life Satisfaction. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/happiness-and-life-satisfaction
  34. Samreen, I., & Majeed, M. T. (2019). Does social development increase the happiness level? Evidence from global panel data. Turkish Economic Review, 6(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.1453/ter.v6i4.1985
  35. Satrovic, E., Cetiner, O., & Muslija, A. (2018). Whether Control ff Corruption Matters for Happiness: Evidence from Panel Data Analysis. PressAcademia Procedia, 7(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.17261/Pressacademia.2018.921
  36. Shin, D. C., & Johnson, D. M. (1978). Avowed Happiness as an Overall Assessment of the Quality of Life. Social Indicators Research, 5(4), 475–492.
  37. Song, C. F., Tay, P. K. C., Gwee, X., Wee, S. L., & Ng, T. P. (2023). Happy people live longer because they are healthy people. BMC Geriatrics, 23(1), 440. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-04030-w
  38. Tuna, E., Evren, A. A., Şahinbaşoğlu, Z. Z., & Veznikli, M. (2023). Examination of the Effects of COVID-19 on Happiness in Different Geographical Regions with Piecewise Linear Panel Data Models. Sustainability, 15(11), Article 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118569
  39. United Nations. (2015). Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
  40. Verme, P. (2009). Happiness, freedom and control. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 71(2), 146–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2009.04.008
  41. Yoon, K., & Hwang, C. L. (1995). Multiple attribute decision making: An introduction. Sage Publications.
  42. Zhang, X., & Dong, S. (2022). The relationships between social support and loneliness: A meta-analysis and review. Acta Psychologica, 227, 103616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103616
Language: English
Page range: 2650 - 2667
Published on: Jul 24, 2025
Published by: Bucharest University of Economic Studies
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2025 Alexandra-Nicoleta Ciucu Durnoi, Adina-Iuliana Jigani, Nora Chiriţă, Camelia Delcea, published by Bucharest University of Economic Studies
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.