Resum:
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This paper analyses whether the different powers and resources at the
disposal of local and regional governments across Europe deliver greater
satisfaction with political institutions and lead to greater personal happiness.
The analysis uses microdata from the four available waves of the European
social survey (2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008), including more than 160,000
observations of individuals living in 29 European countries. Our results
reveal that political and fiscal decentralization have a positive and
significant effect on individuals’ overall happiness. Fiscal decentralization
also exerts a significant effect on the level of satisfaction with political and
economic institutions and with the education and health systems, whereas
the effect of political decentralization on these variables is more limited.
The results show that citizens seem to be happier with the actual capacity of
their local governments to deliver than with the general principle that they
can have a say on their daily politics and policies.
Keywords: Happiness, well-being, satisfaction, fiscal and political
decentralization, Europe.
JEL codes: H11, H77 |