Does subjective well-being contribute to our understanding of Mexican well-being?

Abstract

The article reviews the history of the well-being literature and uses statistical analysis to examine how subjective question surveys can improve our understanding of well-being in Mexico. The research uses data at the (32 federal) state level, principally from two subjective questionnaires, Módulo de Bienestar Autorreportado (BIARE) and Encuesta Nacional de Victimización y Percepción sobre Seguridad Pública (ENVIPE), applied in 2014. The study uses a descriptive analysis of a state-by-state landscape of indicators in an initial search for stand-out well-being patterns; it also uses an econometric study of indicators inspired by theory and previous Mexican research. The analysis confirms that subjective well-being correlates strongly with and complements objective data, and that happiness increases with income, as theory suggests. Moreover, it was found that Mexicans are relatively happy, considering their mediocre incomes and high levels of insecurity. The article suggests that well-being is a complex, multidimensional construct which can be revealed by using exploratory multi-regression and partial correlation models that juxtapose subjective and objective indicators.