For those already drawn by the allure of happiness studies, Dutt and Radcliff here provide a rich tour of the frontier in the field. And for curmudgeons, this work goes far to defuse the skeptical reflex. It is subtle, intelligent, wide-ranging, informative and even readable throughout. James K. Galbraith, The University of Texas at Austin, US This timely and important book presents a unique study of happiness from both economic and political perspectives. It offers an overview of contemporary research on the emergent field of happiness studies and contains contributions by some of the leading figures in the field. General issues such as the history and conceptualization of happiness are explored, and the underpinning theories and empirics analyzed. The ways in which economic and political factors both separately and interactively affect the quality of human life are examined, illustrating the importance of a self-consciously multi-disciplinary approach to the field. In particular, the effects of consumption, income growth, inequality, discrimination, democracy, the nature of government policies, and labor organization on happiness are scrutinized. In conclusion, the contributors prescribe what can and should be done at individual and societal levels to improve human well-being and happiness. This wide-ranging and interdisciplinary book makes a unique contribution to the literature. As such, it will prove a fascinating read for students and scholars of economics, political science, psychology, sociology, and of course, to those with a special interest in the analysis of happiness and human well-being.

HAPPINESS ECONOMICS deals with the concept of happiness in economics. Most economists until recently were very suspicious about happiness economics and the common opinion was that happiness is not empirically measurable. Actually there is now a growing body of serious economists who are willing, either reluctantly or wholeheartedly, to include happiness economics as a part of economic science. For a better understanding of happiness economics, the authors examine the viewpoint of mainstream economics in the introduction. Section 2 starts by considering the methods of analysis in happiness economics. Section 3 considers life satisfaction (or happiness), section 4 considers domain satisfactions, section 5 returns to the ordinality-cardinality question, and Section 6 provides the link between domain satisfactions and satisfaction with life as a whole. Section 7 considers the work of the Leyden school that may be seen as a forerunner of modern happiness economics. Section 8 considers the effect of the individual's reference group on her or his happiness. Section 9 examines the influence of past events and the anticipated future on present life satisfaction. Section 10 deals with the effect of climate and more generally of the external environment on satisfaction. Section 11 considers the effect of inequality on individual happiness and considers happiness inequality per se. Section 12 considers how the vignette approach, so popular in marketing, can be applied in happiness economics. Section 13 delineates the significance of happiness economics for normative economics. And Section 14 draws some conclusions and discusses the relevance of the new findings for economic science and the social sciences in general.

Exploring the modern approach to the economics of happiness, which came about with the Easterlin Paradox, this book analyses and assesses the idea that as a country gets richer the happiness of its citizens remains the same. The book moves through three distinct pillars of study in the field: first analysing the historical and philosophical foundations of the debate; then the methodological and measurements issues and their political implications; and finally empirical applications and discussion about what determines a happy life.

Curiously, economists, whose discipline has much to do with human well-being, have shied away from factoring the study of happiness into their work. Happiness, they might say, is an ''unscientific'' concept. This is the first book to establish empirically the link between happiness and economics--and between happiness and democracy. Two respected economists, Bruno S. Frey and Alois Stutzer, integrate insights and findings from psychology, where attempts to measure quality of life are well-documented, as well as from sociology and political science. They demonstrate how micro- and macro-economic conditions in the form of income, unemployment, and inflation affect happiness. The research is centered on Switzerland, whose varying degrees of direct democracy from one canton to another, all within a single economy, allow for political effects to be isolated from economic effects. Not surprisingly, the authors confirm that unemployment and inflation nurture unhappiness. Their most striking revelation, however, is that the more developed the democratic institutions and the degree of local autonomy, the more satisfied people are with their lives. While such factors as rising income increase personal happiness only minimally, institutions that facilitate more individual involvement in politics (such as referendums) have a substantial effect. For countries such as the United States, where disillusionment with politics seems to be on the rise, such findings are especially significant. By applying econometrics to a real-world issue of general concern and yielding surprising results, Happiness and Economics promises to spark healthy debate over a wide range of the social sciences.

Once called the “dismal science,” economics now offers prescriptions for improving people’s happiness. In this book Richard Easterlin, the “father of happiness economics,” draws on a half-century of his own research and that conducted by fellow economists and psychologists to answer in plain language questions like: Can happiness be measured? Will more money make me happier? What about finding a partner? Getting married? Having a baby? More exercise? Does religion help? Who is happier—women or men, young or old, rich or poor? How does happiness change as we go through different stages of life? Public policy is also in the mix: Can the government increase people’s happiness? Should the government increase their happiness? Which countries are the happiest and why? Does a country need to be rich to be happy? Does economic growth improve the human lot? Some of the answers are surprising (no, more money won’t do the trick; neither will economic growth; babies are a mixed blessing!), but they are all based on reason and well-vetted evidence from the fields of economics and psychology. In closing, Easterlin traces the genesis of the ongoing “Happiness Revolution” and considers its implications for people’s lives down the road.

Economic growth has extraordinarily increased the availability of market goods to satisfy people’s need for comfort, but at the same time it has also raised great challenges to their working and family life. Will people learn the skill necessary to cope with these challenges and draw full enjoyment from economic growth? On the Foundations of Happiness in Economics explores this question by examining the work of Tibor Scitovsky, author of The Joyless Economy. Given the recent rise of behavioural economics and happiness economics, this book aims to show how far ahead of his time Scitovsky was in his work on individual welfare (or wellbeing). It traces the evolution of Scitovsky’s original thought, arguing that he has been frequently misunderstood, before undertaking formal analysis in order to demonstrate how far his work anticipated or even went beyond the recent advances in economics. This volume also explores Scitovsky’s work in the context of Keynes’ work on wellbeing, offering a new perspective on welfare in the history of economic thought. Other issues discussed in this text regard creativity and social skills, hedonism and eudaimonia, parenting and education, addiction, work/leisure balance, policies for happiness, paternalism, and the quality of economic growth. This book addresses a variety of readers, such as those interested in the history of economics, as well as students and researchers concerned with the economic theory of well-being.

The award-winning The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd edition is now available as a dynamic online resource. Consisting of over 1,900 articles written by leading figures in the field including Nobel prize winners, this is the definitive scholarly reference work for a new generation of economists. Regularly updated! This product is a subscription based product.

Written by experts in their respective areas, this book is an excellent review of theories, policies and empirical evidences on important topics in global economic development. The book is both a superb teaching tool and a valuable handbook in development economics. The volume compiled 13 articles on contemporary issues influencing the world development. The book covers issues ranging from global financial crisis, the rise of China and the world economic order, multinational corporations, sweat factories and social responsibilities to Japan's nuclear meltdown and sustainable development. The book highlights the impacts of globalization on human well-being and examines the relationship between developed and developing economies in the global perspective. With cases and box illustration, this book is an essential reader for undergraduate students in economic development, international development and development economics. It is also a great reference for more advanced students, as well as a very useful guide to policymakers and practitioners interested in recent advances in global development.

A provocative look at an area few economists dare to tread, by Australia's most read economic commentator.

With the rise of modern behavioural economics and increasing interest in subjective well-being research, the question of the relationship between economics and psychology has again been brought to the fore. Drawing on the history of economic thought, this book explores the historical relationship between the two disciplines. The book opens with a description of the primary philosophical foundations for early arguments supporting the interplay between economics and psychology. Both classical economists and other prominent pre-marginalists writers are examined in this context. The ensuing discussion explores the marginalist revolution and how well-known economists like Jevons and Edgeworth, influenced by pre-marginalist writers, incorporated ideas and findings from psychology. The book then describes how, following the so-called “Paretian turn”, early neoclassical economists attempted to expel psychological concepts from economic analysis. Combined with the increasing formalization, the influence of the classical physics scientific ideal, and the impact of positivism, this methodological stance became dominant in modern mainstream economics. In contrast, non-mainstream traditions continued to acknowledge the significance of psychology in their economic analysis. This tradition includes inter alia the so-called old behavioural economics, mainly of Herbert Simon and George Katona. The revival of psychology in economics came mainly with the emergence and development of new behavioural economics as a distinct branch during the last few decades. The trend was further assisted by the emergence of the economics of subjective well-being. Finally, the book briefly explores the state of the current debate concerning the relationship between economics and psychology. This book will be invaluable reading to anyone interested in the history of the study of economics and psychology, as well as of great interest to students and scholars of history of economic thought, psychological economics, behavioural economics and the history and philosophy of social sciences.