Sources of Happiness in Indonesia

Using the Indonesian Family Life Survey, this paper elucidates the factors related to happiness in Indonesia. Some factors yield results consistent with those in the literature, but other factors such as unemployment and the female gender turn out not to be robust. Some attempts are made to purge endogeneity for past income mobility, social trust, and political environment. Also, measures with a more immediate impact on happiness are exploited for social trust and political environment. The sign of the coefficient on past income mobility is reversed once the variable has been purged of endogeneity. In addition, social trust and political environment are found to have little relationship with happiness.