Impact of internet usage on the subjective well-being of urban and rural households: Evidence from Vietnam

Abstract

Although many studies have investigated various benefits of Internet usage, little attention has been paid to its subjective impacts. This paper examines the impact of Internet usage on subjective well-being (SWB) and subjective social mobility (SSM) using a sample of 5000 households in Vietnam. A propensity score matching method is applied to address the selection bias that existed prior to the intervention and to make a causal inference. We find that, on average, Internet usage increased subjective social well-being significantly. The heterogeneity analysis reveals that, in terms of the future subjective well-being (FSWB), Internet usage has a larger impact on rural households. However, we found no effect of Internet usage on subjective social mobility.