Tibetan Herders’ Life Satisfaction and Determinants under the Pastureland Rehabilitation Program: A Case Study of Maduo County, China

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

It's always interesting to read topics and writings where the lives and work of different nations, minorities and groups are analysed using scientific methods. The study is sociologically relevant and interesting for readers interested in the subject. The paper focuses on a specific region, so it would be good to see other examples and experiences, which I hope the authors will do in the future. 

I would like to contribute my comments to the betterment of the study.
- The abstract of the study contains the most important information, but it would be good to know in a few sentences the methods used in the work,
- the introduction of the study should be shortened, and the introduction should lay down the basics for the topic and raise awareness,
- the further parts of the introduction should be moved to the literature review chapter (and the chapter should be created),
- the current point 2.1 of the methodology is not part of the methodological review, it is rather part of the literature review,
- if you can, please expand the literature covered,
- it would be worthwhile to formulate hypotheses in the paper,
- the methodology section, should contains parts from the current subsection 2.2,
- in the results section, I would suggest to indicate the sources of the figures and tables and to list the methodological notes,
- please write an explanatory text between the 5 tables and Figure 4, becaues now that is very confusing for the reader,
- in the conclusions section, write more about the limitations, extension and continuation of the research, as it would be interesting to see the comparisons.

I hope I have contributed to making the study better.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The abstract does not indicate when and how numerous of the research was conducted.

Model - it should be considered; the quality of model estimation would be improved if other variables were used or some variables were eliminated. Variables from the groups: Personal characteristics and Family characteristics are statistically significant only in a few cases.

On the one hand, it may be information that the life satisfaction is not affected by some of these variables, but on the other hand, the elimination of some of them would improve the estimation quality of the entire model. Alternatively, it could be considered introducing non-linear variables.

The authors should extend the scope of the bibliography, as the problem of assessing life satisfaction is relatively widely analyzed.

The article deals with an interesting and rarely analyzed problem of herdrers' life satisfaction. The authors used appropriate methods of statistical analysis.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

I have many questions about measuring life satisfaction in one question. A single reference is not enough to motivate the use of a question about it. From this perspective, the article may be compromised. Thus, I recommend reviewing the literature on this topic: 

Appleton, S., & Song, L. (2008). Life satisfaction in urban China: Components and determinants. World Development, 36(11), 2325-2340.

Ye, M., Li, L., Li, Y., Shen, R., Wen, S., & Zhang, J. (2014). Life satisfaction of adolescents in Hunan, China: Reliability and validity of Chinese brief multidimensional students’ life satisfaction scale (BMSLSS). Social Indicators Research, 118(2), 515-522.

Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of personality assessment, 49(1), 71-75.

Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (2008). The satisfaction with life scale and the emerging construct of life satisfaction. The journal of positive psychology, 3(2), 137-152.

Muresan, G. M., Ciumas, C., & Achim, M. V. (2020). Can money buy happiness? Evidence for European countries. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 15(4), 953-970.

Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., & Oishi, S. (2002). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and life satisfaction. Handbook of positive psychology, 2, 63-73.

Mureşan, G. M., & Ciumaş, C. (2020). Money And Happiness: A Conceptual Integration. Annales Universitatis Apulensis: Series Oeconomica, 22(1), 57-65.

Mureșan, G. M., Fülöp, M. T., & Ciumaș, C. (2021). The Road from Money to Happiness. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 14(10), 459.

and so on.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Authors,

Thanks for the corrections and replies. The paper is much improved compared to the original. The structure of the paper is now more scientific, and I wish you good luck with the publication!