UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY VIETNAM ERASMUS UNVERSITY ROTTERDAM INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL STUDIES THE NETHERLANDS VIETNAM – THE NETHERLANDS PROGRAMME FOR M.A IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS THE IMPACT OF MARRIAGE ON HAPPINESS IN HO CHI MINH CITY OF VIETNAM BY TRAN PHAM BAO NGUYEN MASTER OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY, DECEMBER 2017 UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY VIETNAM INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL STUDIES THE HAGUE THE NETHERLANDS VIETNAM - NETHERLANDS PROGRAMME FOR M.A IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS THE IMPACT OF MARRIAGE ON HAPPINESS IN HO CHI MINH CITY OF VIETNAM A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS By TRAN PHAM BAO NGUYEN Academic Supervisor: Dr TRUONG DANG THUY HO CHI MINH CITY, DECEMBER 2017 ABBREVIATIONS GSO General Statistics Office of Vietnam SMAM The singulate mean age at the first marriage HCMC Ho Chi Minh City SWB Subjective well-being WVS World Value Survey CIV Core independent variables CV Control variables OLS Ordinary Least Squares NORC National Opinion Research Center VNP Vietnam – The Netherlands Programme ABSTRACT The main purpose of this research need to find the answer of the question if the married woman will be happier than single folks over lifetimes as well the method of measuring happiness in practice and the impact of marriage on happiness We desire to face a great challenge for the unsolved big problem and the results will be motivated in most decisions related to marriage, all the beliefs, opportunities, assumptions, perceptions and fears in mind happen And could hope our valuable results make many young males and females have re-considered their beliefs on marriage to lead lasting happiness and their roles and responsibilities in shaping the future society TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS iii ABSTRACT iv LIST OF TABLES viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Objective and motivation 1.1.1 Research objective 1.1.2 Research question 1.1.3 Motivation 1.2 Organization of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Happiness 2.1.1 The science of happiness 2.1.2 Empirical studies of happiness 2.2 Marriage 15 2.2.1 Empirical studies of marital and happiness 17 2.2.2 Method 22 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 26 3.1 Determine sample size: 26 We need 384 samples but finally we get 397 which are fine to continue 26 3.2 Data collection 26 3.3 Econometric models 28 Conceptual framework 29 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH RESULTS 31 4.1 The summary statistics 31 4.1.1 Independent variables 31 4.1.1.1 Variables of general information 31 4.1.1.2 Variables of married women 35 4.1.1.3 Variables of husband 40 4.1.2 4.2 4.2.1 Dependent variables 44 Results 46 Basic model 47 4.2.2 Full model 51 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION 59 5.1 Conclusion 59 5.2 Implication 59 REFERENCE 61 APPENDIX 67 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Descriptive samples Table 2.1: Descriptive statistics by independent variables - general Table 2.2: Descriptive statistics by independent variables – who is married Table 2.3: Descriptive statistics by independent variables – related to husband Table 2.4: Descriptive statistics by continuous variables Table 2.5: Descriptive statistics by dependent variables Table 3: Estimation results of the basic model Table 4: Estimation results of the full model CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Objective and motivation 1.1.1 Research objective Basing on General Statistics Office of Vietnam - GSO (2015) 1̣ found that the divorced or separated rate in women which was higher than among man in observed group For details, the divorce rate among woman was approximated 2.2% but the divorce rate of man was occupied by a half, 1.1% About the proportion of separated rate in the woman was 0.6%, while the man only was 0.4% Why the women tend to divorce or wish a separate life these days? The percentage of skilled female workers is increasing year by year from 12.3% in 20072 and the updated figure to 19.3% in 20153 Female unemployment rate is approximately 2.26% in 2015 And monthly average income per capita is dramatically increased from 1,639,500 dong in 20055; 3,259,500 dong in 20106 and 5,695,300 dong in 20157.It can explain why women tend to make their own financial decisions these days In addition, a glance at the past few years, the fact and the figure of marital status indicated that the singulate mean age at the first marriage (SMAM) has been increased in Vietnamese families, GSO (2015)8 SMAM in 1999 is 23.8 years and 2015 24.9 years, in which, SMAM of males were higher than 1.2, 2.6, 3.4, 3.9, 4.1 years compared with GSO (2015) – Major findings: The 1/4/2015 time-point population change and family planning survey, table 2.1, page 34 GSO, 02.Popolation and Employment >> Percentage of trained employed workers by sex and by residence  2007  female GSO, 02.Popolation and Employment >> Percentage of trained employed workers by sex and by residence  2015  female GSO, 02.Popolation and Employment >>Unemployment and unemployment rate of labour force at working age in 2015 by region and by sex GSO, 02.Popolation and Employment >>Average income of employed workers in State sector by kind of economic activity >>2005 GSO, 02.Popolation and Employment >>Average income of employed workers in State sector by kind of economic activity >>2010 GSO, 02.Popolation and Employment >>Average income of employed workers in State sector by kind of economic activity >>2015 GSO (2015) – Major findings: The 1/4/2015 time-point population change and family planning survey, table 2.3, page 37 Bruni, Luigino, and Pier Luigi Porta, eds Economics and happiness: Framing the analysis OUP Oxford, 2005 Bruni, Luigino Handbook on the Economics of Happiness Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007 Carr, Alan Positive psychology: The science of happiness and human strengths Routledge, 2011 Carr, Deborah, Vicki A Freedman, Jennifer C Cornman, and Norbert Schwarz "Happy marriage, happy life? 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Population and Development Review 32, no (2006): 511-528 66 APPENDIX Questionnaire is designed as below: 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 ...UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY VIETNAM INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL STUDIES THE HAGUE THE NETHERLANDS VIETNAM - NETHERLANDS PROGRAMME FOR M.A IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS THE IMPACT OF MARRIAGE ON HAPPINESS. .. happiness in Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam 1.1.3 Motivation We conduct at least 500 surveys of women at aged 18-65 who is living in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) to find out the research question by using... find the answer of the question if the married woman will be happier than single folks over lifetimes as well the method of measuring happiness in practice and the impact of marriage on happiness