Analysis of subjective wellbeing in low-income transitional countries: evidence from comparative national surveys in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia

Abstract

Drawing on the comparative household surveys, this article examines subjective wellbeing in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, three low-income transitional countries located on the Caucasus. We found that economic factors explain a considerable part of the variation in subjective wellbeing. The results are significant and robust across all countries. Having a higher level of household income, university education and a larger number of people in household along with salary as a major income source positively affect subjective wellbeing. On the contrary, being unemployed or a migrant along with having social transfers as a major source of income negatively affect subjective wellbeing. Besides, subjective wellbeing is strongly associated with disagreement with the current direction of countries' development and withdrawal from discussing policy. We argue that analysis of subjective wellbeing can be used to enrich and validate the process of poverty analysis in the countries of the region.