Capitalism at the Threshold: Human Happiness, Human Rights, and Environment Sustainability as the New Pillars of Economic Legitimacy

The sustainability of contemporary capitalism has become a central research issue as economic growth increasingly interacts with social legitimacy and environmental constraints. This paper examines how human rights, subjective well-being, and environmental sustainability jointly function as institutional foundations of capitalist systems. The study aims to assess whether these dimensions operate as complementary components that strengthen the coherence and resilience of market-oriented economies. The analysis focuses on advanced and emerging economies, which display institutional variation while remaining integrated into global markets. The research period covers 1995 to 2023, capturing structural changes associated with globalization, institutional reform, and ecological pressures. The empirical analysis relies on internationally comparable macroeconomic, institutional, and social indicators drawn from established statistical sources. Principal component analysis is employed to identify latent institutional dimensions underlying capitalist development, followed by econometric estimation to evaluate their relationship with a composite indicator of capitalist institutionalization reflecting market-supporting institutions and long-term welfare capacity. The results support the hypothesis of institutional complementarity: human rights and well-being exhibit strong positive associations with capitalist performance, while environmental sustainability contributes more modestly but remains statistically significant. The findings indicate that advances along isolated institutional dimensions generate limited and unstable outcomes when not reinforced by others. The scientific contribution lies in its integrated treatment of social, legal, and environmental institutions as constitutive elements of capitalism rather than external constraints. Practically, the results inform policymakers by emphasizing the importance of coordinated governance frameworks that align market activity with social inclusion and environmental responsibility to ensure long-term economic viability.