Happiness
Around the World:
The
Paradox of Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires
In-depth study of happiness which crosses many countries and
regions, including developed and developing countries
Includes interviews in both Central Asia and Afghanistan
Includes data for Latin America which allows us to use well
being surveys to measure how different health conditions affect the health and life
satisfaction of people in different countries and socioeconomic cohorts
Includes surveys of the effects of crime and corruption on
well being in Latin America, demonstrating a strong role for different norms in mediating
the well being costs of these phenomena
Well being and measure of happiness have become popular with
politicians and advisors in tough economic times
For centuries the pursuit of happiness was the preserve of either the philosopher or
the voluptuary and took second place to the basic need to survive on the one hand, and the
pressure to conform to social conventions and morality on the other. More recently there
is a burgeoning interest in the study of happiness, in the social sciences and in the
media. Can we really answer the question what makes people happy? Is it really grounded in
credible methods and data? Is there consistency in the determinants of happiness across
countries and cultures? Are happiness levels innate to individuals or can policy and the
environment make a difference? How is happiness affected by poverty? By economic progress?
Is happiness a viable objective for policy? This book is an attempt to answer these
questions, based on research on the determinants of happiness in countries around the
world, ranging from Peru and Russia to the U.S. and Afghanistan.
The book reviews the theory and concepts of happiness, explaining how these concepts
underpin a line of research which is both an attempt to understand the determinants of
happiness and a tool for understanding the effects of a host of phenomena on human well
being.
The research finds surprising consistency in the determinants of happiness across
levels of development. Yet there is still much debate over the relationship between
happiness and income. The book explores the effects of many mediating factors in that
relationship, ranging from macroeconomic trends and democracy to inequality and crime. It
also reviews what we know about happiness and health and how that relationship varies
according to income levels and health status. It concludes by discussing the potential -
and the potential pitfalls - of using happiness surveys to contribute to better public
policy.
Readership: Academics, researchers and students of behavioural, welfare and development
economics. Scholars of political science, psychology and philosophy. Policymakers and
general readers.
Table of Contents
Introduction - Why Study Happiness?
1: The Economics of Happiness
2: The Happiness and Income Debate: Substance, Methodology, and the Easterlin
Paradox
3: The Determinants of Happiness around the World
4: Does Happiness Matter?
5: Happiness and Health across Countries and Cultures
6: Economic Growth, Crises, Inequality, and More
7: Adapting to Good and Bad Fortune: How Friends, Freedom, Crime, and Corruption
affect Happiness
8: Happiness around the World: Lessons - and Questions - for Policy
272 pages, Paperback