MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY (UEH) -------------- Lê Văn ESSAYS ON THE RELATIONHIP BETWEEN FINANCIAL WEALTH AND HAPPINESS DOCTORAL DISSERTATION IN ECONOMICS Ho Chi Minh City, 2024 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY (UEH) -------------- Lê Văn ESSAYS ON THE RELATIONHIP BETWEEN FINANCIAL WEALTH AND HAPPINESS Major: Finance – Banking Code number: 9340201 DOCTORAL DISSERTATION IN ECONOMICS ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR: Prof. Nguyễn Khắc Quốc Bảo Ho Chi Minh City, 2024 -i- TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS. vi DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY. vii LIST OF FIGURES.
viii LIST OF TABLES. ix RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS. Background and motivations. Scope of research .6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Financial wealth and happiness. Financial investments and happiness. Economic policy uncertainty and happiness. Fintech and happiness.
Extending the relationship between financial wealth and happiness. Solar energy and happiness sentiment. Literature gap and hypothesis development. Financial wealth and happiness sentiment.
Financial investments and happiness sentiment. Economic policy uncertainty and happiness sentiment. Fintech and happiness. Extending the relationship between financial wealth and happiness sentiment.
Solar energy and happiness sentiment .44 CHAPTER 3: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GLOBAL WEALTH AND HAPPINESS SENTIMENT – AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF RETRUN AND VOLATILITY SPILLOVERS. Constant conditional correlation GARCH models. Dynamic conditional correlation GARCH models. BEKK-GARCH models.
Data and preliminary analysis. The relationship between global wealth and happiness. Inside the mind and matter of finance .58 CHAPTER 4: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GLOBAL STOCK AND PRECIOUS METALS UNDER COVID-19 AND HAPPINESS PERSPECTIVES. Data and preliminary analysis .88 CHAPTER 5: GLOBAL ECONOMIC POLICY UNCERTAINTY AND HAPPINESS SENTIMENT – A CONSISTENT RELATIONSHIP UNDER IMPACTS OF THE UNPRECEDENTED COVID-19 CRISIS .104 CHAPTER 6: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FINTECH AND HAPPINESS SENTIMENT.
The trade-off between Fintech and happiness sentiment .120 CHAPTER 7: EXTENDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FINANCIAL WEALTH AND HAPPINESS SENTIMENT. Data and Methodology .1 Evaluating the nexus between financial wealth and happiness sentiment .2 Optimizing the pursuit of financial wealth and happiness .150 -v- CHAPTER 8: SOLAR ENERGY AND HAPPINESS SENTIMENT: THE PURSUIT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT UNDER IMPACTS OF GLOBAL VOLATILITY. The relationship between happiness and economic and environmental issues. Data and Methodology.
The relationship between solar energy and happiness sentiment. Inside the pursuit of sustainability.172 -vi- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to express our gratitude to our academic supervisor, Professor Doctor Nguyễn Khắc Quốc Bảo for his valuable comments, through which we publish relevant studies and complete this doctoral dissertation. We would like to express our gratitude to our affiliation for the valuable assistance which facilitates us to perform the teaching and academic duties contemporaneously. We thank our family for their great encouragement which lays the background for us to perform this doctoral dissertation from the beginning to the completion.
-vii- DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY To the best of our knowledge, apart from the acknowledged references and studies which have arisen in relation to our pursuit of the doctoral degree, this dissertation does not either use language, ideas, or other original from anyone, or has not been previously submitted to other educational and research programs. This dissertation does not necessarily reflect the view of our affiliation. There is no conflict of interest in relation to this dissertation. Ho Chi Minh City, dated ………………2024 LÊ VĂN -viii- LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.
Global wealth index series. Global happiness index series. FTSE All-World Series (FAW), Emerging Market Index (EMI), and Precious Metals Index (EMI) series from 14 Oct 2013 to 03 May 2021. Twitter’s Daily Happiness Sentiment (DHS) index series from 01 Jan 2020 to 03 May 2021.
The economic uncertainty index from 01 June 2011 to 25 May 2021. The happiness sentiment index from 01 June 2011 to 25 May 2021. Data illustration from 14 October 2013 to 13 May 2022. Global Solar Energy (SOLRX) and Twitter's Daily Happiness (DHS) indexes.
Conditional correlations between solar energy and happiness sentiment .166 -ix- LIST OF TABLES Table 3. Descriptive statistics and stochastic properties. The relationship between daily changes in global wealth and happiness indexes under MGRACH models. The relationship between daily global wealth volatility and changes in happiness under MGARCH models.
Descriptive statistics and stochastic properties of return series. The relationship between global stock and precious metals index under conditional correlation MGARCH models. Global stock-precious metals nexus during Covid-19 period under happiness perspective. Descriptive statistics and stochastic properties of return series.
The relationship between global economic policy uncertainty and daily happiness sentiment indexes under MGARCH models. Summary statistics of return series. Estimations under constant conditional correlation GARCH models. Estimations under dynamic conditional correlation GARCH models.
Summary statistics of return series. The interaction between financial wealth and happiness sentiment from 14 October 2013 to 31 December 2019. The interaction between financial wealth and happiness sentiment from 01 January 2020 to 13 May 2022. Descriptive statistics and stochastic properties of return series.
The nexus between solar energy and happiness sentiment .164 -x- RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS Following publications have arisen from this dissertation: [1] Nguyen, K. The relationship between global wealth and happiness: An analytical study of returns and volatility spillovers. Borsa Istanbul Review, 21(S1), pp. The relationship between global stock and precious metals under Covid-19 and happiness perspectives.
Resources Policy, Volume 77, p. Solar energy and happiness sentiment: The pursuit of sustainable development under impacts of global volatility. Energy Systems, Global Energy Meet (GEM) 2023 Collection, pp. The nexus between financial wealth and happiness sentiment via social network.
In: The 9th International Conference on Accounting and Finance (ICOAF-2024). Global economic policy uncertainty and happiness sentiment: A consistent relationship under impacts of the unprecedented Covid-19 crisis. In: The 4th Asia Conference on Business and Economic Studies (ACBES 2022). Ho Chi Minh City: UEH Publishing House, p.
-1- ABSTRACT This dissertation presents essays regarding the relationship between financial wealth and happiness sentiment. Essay I (Chapter 3) investigates the relationship between global wealth and happiness in terms of return and volatility spillovers. Essay I finds that wealth influences happiness positively and happiness mitigates the volatility of wealth. Essay II (Chapter 4) investigates the nexus between global stock markets and precious metals under Covid-19 and happiness perspectives.
Essay II finds evidence that happiness could explain interactions among financial markets in the context of global volatility. Essay III (Chapter 5) investigates the connection between the global economic policy uncertainty and happiness sentiment. Essay III finds that happiness co-moves with uncertainty, and therefore we can use these two factors to supervise daily economic and social volatilities. Essay IV (Chapter 6) investigates the relation between financial technology (Fintech) and happiness sentiment.
Essay IV finds that the development of the Fintech era may be challenged by its impact on happiness. Essay V (Chapter 7) extends the relationship between financial wealth and happiness sentiment in terms of language-based communications via social networks. Essay V affirms the robustness of Essay I for specific countries including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Essay VI (Chapter 8) seeks the relationship between happiness and the daily performance of solar energy firms.
Essay VI finds that the solar energy development was challenged by the happiness goal before the Covid-19 pandemic and the two variables positively interact to each other after the outbreak. This clarifies the linkage between happiness and solar energy in the global volatility context. Empirical findings from this dissertation states that happiness shall be the more favorable goal of human beings. The multidisciplinary approach of this dissertation generates the connection between financial economics and social sciences.
This dissertation also reflects current trends such as the digital era, the post-pandemic context, and the pursuit of sustainable development goals. In accordance with this dissertation, relevant parties can refer to happiness as a measure for stable economic growth accompanying social and environmental issues. Background and motivations What is the meaning of life? – we have been seeking answers to this question. Finding the objectives of life is one of key missions throughout various fields such as science, philosophy, and religions.
For human beings, the meaning of life could be understood as the pursuit of goals and the sense of fulfillment (Reker & Wong, 1988). In support, the meaning of life contains coherence, purpose, and significance (Martela & Steger, 2016). Beyond reflecting quality (Wong, 2011), the meaning of life includes purpose, understanding, responsibility, and enjoyment (Wong, 2012). In connection, we have been seeking the meaning of life on personal, organizational, national, and global levels.
At the national level, the United States Declaration of Independence of 1776 expresses happiness as a guiding ideal, which is represented by the universal right to the pursuit of happiness. In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly set 17 global Sustainable Development Goals associated with the meaning of life. Consequently, financial wealth and happiness are considered tremendous factors for the meaning of life. Henceforth, understanding the relationship between wealth and happiness allows us to clarify the meaning of life.
There have been studies the relationship between wealth and happiness. Frey and Stutzer (2018) indicate that richer nations tend to be happier than poorer nations, but this fact diminishes with wealth. Hagerty and Veenhoven (2003) and Stevenson and Wolfers (2008) find the logarithmic relation between national wealth and happiness, that is, the same percentual increase in the gross national product generates the same increase in happiness for wealthy countries as for poor countries. Layard (2006) and Blanchflower and Oswald (2008) find the determinants of happiness such as national and personal income, employment, economic security, freedom, and development.
There is also evidence on economic consequences of happiness. Piekałkiewicz (2017) finds that happiness increases productivity, predicts future income, and affects labor market performance. These preliminary backgrounds motivate this dissertation to evaluate the relationship between financial wealth and happiness. Research context The making of this dissertation is driven by prominent global contexts, those are, the digital era, impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the pursuit of sustainability.
Thus, this dissertation shall reflect these research contexts as follows: First, the digital era is an inevitable trend which comes along the fourth industrial revolution. This context facilitates to assess financial wealth and happiness sentiment thanks to the high-frequency data. Accordingly, we shall apply this trend to construct suitable methodological frameworks for this dissertation. Second, the Covid-19 outbreak has been causing enormous damages for the world under various aspects, and financial economics is not an exception (Goodell, 2020).
Following an unprecedented crisis as caused by the pandemic, the world is threatened by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Therefore, this dissertation is supposed to capture the relationship between financial wealth and happiness under impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Third, the pursuit of sustainable development goals. Indeed, sustainability facilitates economies to pursue stable growth along with the harmony in environmental, social, and governance factors (Hák, et al.
When the global economy is influenced by the Covid-19 outbreak, sustainability is the key for both physical health (McBride, et al., 2019) and mental health (Frey & Stutzer, 2018) in terms of happiness. Hence, this dissertation shall capture the sustainability objective. Research objectives As motivated by the research context as described in Section 1.2, this dissertation is supposed to capture following objectives: ▪ Objective I: Evaluating the relationship between global wealth and happiness. ▪ Objective II: Investigating the relationship between global stock markets and precious metals under Covid-19 and happiness perspectives.
-4- ▪ Objective III: Investigating the interaction between global economic policy uncertainty and happiness sentiment. ▪ Objective IV: Investigating the interaction between financial technology and happiness sentiment. ▪ Objective V: Extending the relations between financial wealth and happiness with specific evidence from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. ▪ Objective VI: Investigating the relationship happiness sentiment and the daily performance of solar energy firms.
Research questions Equivalent to objectives as above presented in Section 1.