Socio-economic determinants of wellbeing in Malta and the EU : a comparative longitudinal study

Abstract

Wellbeing has been a primary subject of interest for academics and policy-makers for many years, but what are the main socio-economic factors that impact it? The relationship between GDP and wellbeing is one which has garnered much academic attention, and whilst the study takes this into account, it also attempts to address other important factors that impact wellbeing. Therefore, through an analysis of the literature within the field, this study attempts to build a model that estimates wellbeing within an EU context whilst taking into account any discrepancies that the Maltese scenario could imply. To test the model, the study employs a longitudinal research design (2009-2018) using wellbeing data from the World Happiness Report for 28 European countries. The model includes different variables that account for economic, environmental and socio-political dimensions in order to gain a better understanding of the role that these dimensions play in determining wellbeing in an EU context. The results indicate that GDP is not a good predictor of wellbeing, and that European policy-makers ought to look towards other factors such as employment rates and levels of corruption, in order to positively impact the wellbeing of the general population. Moreover, the study shows that specifically accounting for Malta’s context does not alter the explanatory value of the model.