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Correlational findings

Study Fleche (2015): study SY 1999

Public
14+ aged general public, Switserland, followed 12 years 1999-2012
Survey name
CH-SHP pooled waves
Sample
Respondents
N = 15000
Non Response
Assessment
Interview: Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI)

Correlate

Authors's Label
Centralization in canton
Our Classification
Remarks
Financial equivalence of the transfers was about 4% of the cantonal budget Cantons are highly autonomous provinces inb higly democratic Switserland Whether or not centralization reform took place in a canton appeared to be unrelated to varous cantonal characteristics and is therefore be considered random
Distribution
1: 19 cantons, 0: 7 cantons
Related specification variables
Operationalization
Transfer of tasks from municipalities to canton
1 contralization reform (treated)
0 no reform (control)

Observed Relation with Happiness

Happiness Measure Statistics Elaboration / Remarks O-SLu-g-sq-n-11-h b-fix = -.05 p < .05 LEVEL of happiness in centralized cantons (vs no reform)

b-fix controled for
- personal characteristics
  - sexe
  - age
  - personal income
  - marital status
  - employment status
  - education
  - religion
  - language
  - political preference
  - self rated health
  - foreign born
Unaffected by additional control for
- canton characteristics
  - income per capita
  - unemployment rate
- municipal population size
O-SLu-g-sq-n-11-h b-fix = -.04 p < .05 CHANGE of happiness in centralized cantons (difference before and after reform)

b-fix controled for
- personal characteristics
  - sexe
  - age
  - personal income
  - marital status
  - employment status
  - self rated health
Slightly lower (.003) after additional control for:
- canton characteristics
  - income per capita
  - unemployment rate
- municipal population size

Effect dissipates over time
1 year prior reform     b-fix = -.01 (ns)
year of implementation  b-fix = -.04 (05)
1-2 years after         b-fix = -.03 (05)
3 years after           b-fix = -.01 (ns)

No difference in effect across
- personal characteristics
  - gender
  - personal incomer
  - emploment statis
  - health
  - children under 18
  - left voter
  - on electoral register
  - langiage
- cantonal and munipipal characteristics
  - degree of direct democracy
  - approval of reform
  - time of reform
- municipality size