Renewable natural capital, the Biocapacity, and subjective well-being

Abstract

More and more literature have been researching subjective well-being from the perspective of natural capital. By employing a biological proxy of renewable natural capital, the Biocapacity, this paper aims to add to the growing literature by empirically estimating the relationship between renewable natural capital and subjective well-being. Based on a cross-sectional data set of 139 countries around the year 2013, the Ordinary Least Square regression estimations demonstrate that renewable natural capital has a significant positive impact on subjective well-being. A sensitivity analysis by employing another proxy of subjective well-being further certifies the significant positive relationship between renewable natural capital and subjective well-being. The respective regression estimations for the high-income countries (including 77 countries) and the low-income countries (including 62 countries) show that the relationship is also significantly positive for the high-income countries whereas statistically insignificant for the low-income countries. The empirical findings of this paper further prove that renewable natural capital serves as an independent factor in affecting and explaining national subjective well-being levels and that residents do consider the ecosystem goods and services generated from renewable natural capital when they evaluate their life conditions, especially for those who have reached a certain level of living standard.