Urban-rural happiness differentials in The Netherlands

In this chapter, we examine urban-rural happiness differences in the Netherlands. In line with the existing literature, we find that people in rural areas are, on average, happier than people in urban areas. Our econometric estimations suggest that after controlling for many time-variant and time-invariant personal characteristics, the effect of degree of urbanization on happiness is diminished, which indicates that selection and composition effects may play a role in explaining the urban-rural happiness differential. Cities typically have relatively more singles, unemployed, and migrants. Although these people downplay the average happiness levels of cities, they still might be better off in the city than on the countryside.