Unhappy Development : Dissatisfaction with Life on the Eve of the Arab Spring
Despite progress in economic and social development in the 2000s, there was an increasing dissatisfaction with life among the population of many developing Arab countries. At the end of the decade, these countries ranked among the least happy econo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/11/25382796/unhappy-development-dissatisfaction-life-wake-arab-spring http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23452 |
| Summary: | Despite progress in economic and social
development in the 2000s, there was an increasing
dissatisfaction with life among the population of many
developing Arab countries. At the end of the decade, these
countries ranked among the least happy economies in the
world—a situation that fits the so-called “unhappy
development” paradox. The paradox is defined as declining
levels of happiness at a time of moderate-to-rapid economic
development. This paper empirically tests the strength of
association of a range of objective and subjective factors
with life evaluation in the Middle East and North Africa
region in the years immediately preceding the Arab Spring
uprisings (2009–10). The findings suggest a significant,
negative association between life satisfaction levels in the
region during this period and each of the main perceived
reasons for the 2011 uprisings—dissatisfaction with the
standard of living, poor labor market conditions, and corruption. |
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