Big-City Life (Dis)satisfaction? The Effect of Urban Living on Subjective Well-Being

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of big-city life on individuals' well-being. Combining data on Italian municipalities' characteristics with individual-level survey data, I find that city size negatively affects subjective well-being. This association is not driven by omitted variable bias or by spatial sorting of citizens. Commute time accounts for most of the differences in subjective well-being among cities of different size. There is suggestive evidence that the negative effect of commuting on well-being is caused by reduced time availability for fostering personal relationships and engaging in leisure activities. This finding suggests that interventions reducing the amount of time people spend in an unpleasant state can spur agglomeration economies and their contribution to aggregate productivity and growth.