Jing Jian Xiao, Chengyang Yan, Piotr Bialowolski and Nilton Porto
The relationship between debt and happiness is an emerging research topic with significant implications for both theory and practice in economics and business. In China, where the…
Abstract
Purpose
The relationship between debt and happiness is an emerging research topic with significant implications for both theory and practice in economics and business. In China, where the consumer credit market is at an early stage of development, the topic remains under-investigated and the evidence on the debt–well-being link is scarce. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between debt holding and happiness and the moderating role of income in it.
Design/methodology/approach
Data used in the study were from three waves (2013, 2015 and 2017) of the China Household Finance Survey. Fixed-effect regressions on panel data were used for data analyses.
Findings
The results show that any type of debt holding is negatively associated with happiness. Among seven specific types of debts, four types show negative associations with happiness, which in the order from higher to lower associations, are medical, education, other and housing debt. In addition, negative associations between debt holding and happiness vary among income groups. The results suggest that any debt holding potentially decreases happiness for low- and middle-income consumers only. In addition, holdings of three specific types of debts (medical, education and housing debt) may decrease happiness for both low- and middle-income consumers, and holding two types of debts (business and other debt) may decrease happiness for middle-income consumers only.
Research limitations/implications
Data used in this study originate from one country only. It limits the generalizability of findings to other countries with different institutional backgrounds and different socio-economic characteristics of populations. The results have implications for researchers who study consumer debt behavior and business practitioners who do businesses with Chinese companies and consumers.
Practical implications
China is an emerging economy that is at the early stage of credit market development. The results of this study provide helpful information and insights for business practitioners to explore credit markets and serve credit product clients with various income levels in China.
Social implications
The results of this study are informative for public policies. When introducing credit market-related policies, policymakers should pay attention to people's happiness and to differential welfare effects of holdings of different types of debts and among consumers with various levels of incomes.
Originality/value
Unique contributions of this study include using data from the most recently available waves of the China Household Finance Survey (2013, 2015 and 2017) to study the associations between debt holding and happiness. In addition, the findings of this study enrich the literature of debt and happiness by adding evidence from China, the largest emerging economy in the world, which is helpful for future theory building and business practice on the relationship between debt holding and happiness.
Details
Keywords
Dianzi Liu, Chengyang Liu, Chuanwei Zhang, Chao Xu, Ziliang Du and Zhiqiang Wan
In real-world cases, it is common to encounter mixed discrete-continuous problems where some or all of the variables may take only discrete values. To solve these non-linear…
Abstract
Purpose
In real-world cases, it is common to encounter mixed discrete-continuous problems where some or all of the variables may take only discrete values. To solve these non-linear optimization problems, the use of finite element methods is very time-consuming. The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficiency of the proposed hybrid algorithms for the mixed discrete-continuous optimization and compare it with the performance of genetic algorithms (GAs).
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the enhanced multipoint approximation method (MAM) is used to reduce the original nonlinear optimization problem to a sequence of approximations. Then, the sequential quadratic programing technique is applied to find the continuous solution. Following that, the implementation of discrete capability into the MAM is developed to solve the mixed discrete-continuous optimization problems.
Findings
The efficiency and rate of convergence of the developed hybrid algorithms outperforming GA are examined by six detailed case studies in the ten-bar planar truss problem, and the superiority of the Hooke–Jeeves assisted MAM algorithm over the other two hybrid algorithms and GAs is concluded.
Originality/value
The authors propose three efficient hybrid algorithms, the rounding-off, the coordinate search and the Hooke–Jeeves search-assisted MAMs, to solve nonlinear mixed discrete-continuous optimization problems. Implementations include the development of new procedures for sampling discrete points, the modification of the trust region adaptation strategy and strategies for solving mix optimization problems. To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of metamodel construction, regressors f defined in this paper can have the form in common with the empirical formulation of the problems in many engineering subjects.