Inequality and Life Satisfaction in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: The Role of Opportunity García Muñoz, Teresa María Milgram Baleix, Juliette Odeh Odeh, Omar Life satisfaction Subjective well being Income inequality Opportunity This study delves into the relationship between income inequality and subjective well-being by gauging the role played by opportunities at the country level. Using data from the World Value Survey, we estimate multilevel models to explain cross-country differences in individuals’ life satisfaction. Opportunity and inequality exert a significant effect per se on life satisfaction, and their joint effect explains the puzzling positive relationship between income inequality and life satisfaction in low- and middle-income countries. Income inequalities reduce the well-being of individuals if opportunities are low, but inequality is not relevant for life satisfaction if opportunities in the country are high. Among the aspects of opportunity that really matter, we show that inclusiveness and access to advanced education play a more major role than political freedom or personal rights. Results apply for different social, income, and education groups. 2020-05-14T11:29:02Z 2020-05-14T11:29:02Z 2019-05-15 info:eu-repo/semantics/article García-Muñoz, T. M., Milgram-Baleix, J., & Odeh-Odeh, O. (2019). Inequality and Life Satisfaction in Low-and Middle-Income Countries: The Role of Opportunity. Societies, 9(2), 37. http://hdl.handle.net/10481/62086 10.3390/soc9020037 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 3.0 España MDPI