Exploring the Effects of Transportation and Energy Infrastructure on Subjective Well-Being

Using data from a large-scale Japanese internet survey collected in June 2015 (n=11,167) this study analysis the relationship between the satisfaction with transportation and energy infrastructure and overall subjective well-being (SWB). Satisfaction with transportation infrastructure is measured by asking respondents how dissatisfied they are with (i) the pavement condition of public roads, (ii) access to public transportation, (iii) traffic congestion of public roads, and (iv) congestion in public transportation. Satisfaction with energy infrastructure is measured by asking respondents their level of satisfaction with utilities (electricity, gas, water, gasoline). Applying logit regressions to our data we obtain the following results: (1) Both aggregated indices of dissatisfaction with transportation and with energy infrastructure have negative effects on overall SWB; (2) the negative impact of both factors declines as household income increases; (3) when transportation variables are analyzed separately, dissatisfaction for public road condition and congestion in public transportation impacts SWB negatively, but only when commuting time is longer than an hour; similarly, congestion of public road affects SWB negatively on its own but the impact declines as commuting time increases; finally, (4) the monetary value of satisfaction with energy utilities is approximately 200,000 yen per year.

Kong Joo SHIN is associate professor at the School of Engineering, Department of Urban Engineering and Environmental Science, Kyushu University. Before she was lecturer at the International School of Management (Lithuania), New York University, and post-doctoral fellow at Tohoku University. She holds a PhD degree from New York University. Her latest publication are “The Effects of Attachment and Information Seeking on the Displaced Disaster Victim’s Decision Making”, Plos One (forthcoming) and “Shadow Prices and Production Inefficiency of Mineral Resources: Evaluating the Effects of Production Restrictions”, Singapore Economic Review (forthcoming).