Well-being, Multinational Companies, and Cultural Consumption: A Regional and Urban Perspective

The importance of subjective well-being (SWB) as a crucial dimension of regional development to supplement purely economic indicators has grown considerably in recent decades in both academic and policy debates. In this setting, this thesis focuses on a set of determinants of SWB that have received scant scientific attention, namely (i) the implications of globalisation processes, specifically focusing on the role of multinational companies (MNCs), and (ii) the implications of the local cultural context by considering individuals' consumption of cultural amenities. The structure of the thesis includes a general introduction aimed at guiding the reader through the thesis and providing a broad conceptual framework and two analytical sections focusing on (i) the role of globalisation and MNCs on SWB (Chapter 1). It also examines the degree of economic embeddedness of MNCs in the local economic structure, the sectoral and activity heterogeneity in which MNCs are involved in, and the cultural openness of local communities (Chapter 2), as well as (ii) the linkages between individuals' cultural consumption behaviours and their SWB dimension by disentangling the types of cultural activities and the two components of SWB (life satisfaction and happiness). Part I discusses how, as part of a global phenomenon, MNCs engender economic, social, environmental, and institutional impacts on their locations. The multidimensionality of these impacts is understudied by previous literature. In particular, the evidence suggests that the presence of MNCs might have both positive and negative impacts. On the one hand, the local economy might benefit from MNCs' technology and knowledge spillovers, thus enhancing local SWB. On the other hand, specific types of MNCs activities might also contribute, for instance, to increased pollution and environmental degradation that can lower local SWB. Specifically, Chapter 1 focuses on the SWB and life satisfaction of individuals where they reside as a predictor of the complexity of these impacts (i.e., it aims to reveal the [net] territorial impact of the presence of MNCs). Specifically, the work provides a theoretical framework and empirical evidence on the link between the presence of MNCs and SWB at the regional level. The dataset combines data from the European Social Survey for the average regional life satisfaction and Orbis-Bureau Van Dijk for the presence and size of MNCs, including information for 190 NUTS 2 regions in 24 European countries over the years 2010–2016. The findings indicate that, on average, the presence of MNCs is associated with lower levels of SWB. Furthermore, these results show high regional heterogeneity. Chapter 2 aims to understand the overall impacts of MNCs on urban life satisfaction, disentangling the heterogeneity of the related economy from MNCs and the local context. To do so, the chapter focus on the following aspects: whether the embeddedness of MNCs in the local economic structure has a positive relationship with urban life satisfaction compared to less-embedded MNCs; whether sectoral heterogeneity matters in the relationship between MNCs' embeddedness and urban life satisfaction; and whether the cultural context matters in the relationship between MNCs’ embeddedness and urban life satisfaction. The dataset combines data from Eurostat – Perception Survey for urban life satisfaction, Orbis Bureau van Dijk for the MNCs, and the Eurobarometer for the cultural context, including information for over 100 European cities for 2012, 2015, and 2019. Moreover, the novel indicator of embeddedness proposed in the analysis is built using the World Input-Output Dataset. The empirical analysis uses panel fixed and random effects models. The results suggest that urban life satisfaction might be positively associated with MNCs' embeddedness. However, this might also depend on MNCs' sectoral and activity heterogeneity and the cultural context. Areas with a closed cultural context seem to benefit less from the presence of embedded MNCs. Part II (Chapter 3) discusses how the role of culture as a socio-economic driver has grown considerably in the last few years. In particular, regarding the stream of well-being literature, the clinical and psychological literature has highlighted the role of cultural consumption and participation in enhancing SWB in patients affected by physical and psychological diseases. This chapter aims to understand the implications of culture on SWB by operationalising and disentangling the effects of types of cultural consumption on SWB components, life satisfaction, and happiness by looking at the Italian case study. More specifically, the first aim is to test the link between cultural consumption and general SWB over a seven-year period; the second is to investigate whether there is a significant difference between different types of cultural consumption and the two components of SWB, namely life satisfaction and happiness. The dataset is from the Multiscopo—Aspetti della vita Quotidiana of the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) survey and covers 2013 to 2019. The econometrics strategy employed is quantitative: it first employs pooled OLS, ordered probit, and ordered logit; second, sensitivity analysis; and third, treatment effect approaches. The results highlight that cultural consumption positively impacts SWB. However, the effect on happiness appears negative and heterogeneous according to cultural activities and individual characteristics. The robustness checks also confirm these results.