Happiness and Utility in Economic Thought—Or: What Can We Learn from Happiness Research for Public Policy Analysis and Public Policy Making?

Hirschauer, Norbert; Lehberger, Mira; Mußhoff, Oliver

doi:10.1007/s11205-014-0654-2

Cited by 38 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The literature review conducted for this research reveals the intermingling of the terms happiness and quality of life, as they are very closely linked; the same happens with happiness and well-being, in the subjective sense, which are considered equivalent concepts [ 35 ]. Nevertheless, there are some studies that make a clear distinction between quality of life and happiness, using elements such as income to measure quality of life [ 36 ]; others use employment [ 18 , 37 ]; or the residential environment, physical and mental health, education, recreation and leisure, crime or security, and social belonging [ 38 , 39 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between happiness and quality of life: A model for Spanish society

et al. 2021

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A key goal for society as a whole is the pursuit of well-being, which leads to the happiness of its individual members; as such, it is of critical socioeconomic relevance. In this regard, it is important to study which factors primarily affect the happiness of the population. In principle, these factors are associated with income level and residential and job stability, or more specifically, citizens’ quality of life. This research, which is based on a multidimensional concept of quality of life, uses a regression model to explain the dependence of Spaniards’ happiness on the well-being or quality of life provided by their work, their family situation, their income level and aspects of their place of residence, among other factors. The data were collected through an anonymous survey administered to a representative sample of Spanish citizens. The methodology used approaches the intangible concept of happiness as resulting from different individual and social causes selected from dimensions addressed in the literature, and calculates their effects or importance through regression coefficients. One of the findings is that people with the highest level of well-being or quality of life in the most important dimensions mostly claim to be happy. With respect to gender, it has a significant influence on the dimensions included in the model of citizen happiness and on personal issues. It is also shown that the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic negatively influenced the quality of life of Spanish citizens and therefore their happiness.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between happiness and quality of life: A model for Spanish society

et al. 2021

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“…Following the works of Krueger and Schkade ( 2008 ) or Hirschauer et al ( 2015 ), the hypothesis we therefore test involves analysing the relationship between individuals’ utility—approximately their satisfaction with life—and economic activity, differentiating rises and falls in the level of aggregate income, and controlling through various relevant personal and institutional categories, as set out in Eq. 3 : where Y ji is the vector of socio-economic aspects of the individual in the country, in which the individual studied resides.…”

Section: Relationship Between Economic Activity and Subjective Well-being: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subjective Well-Being and Aversion to Macroeconomic Losses: New Evidence

2021

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This work analyses the existence of asymmetric effects on the subjective well-being of the population of different countries in response to changes in the levels of aggregate income. Microdata from the Eurobarometer and the World Values Survey are used for the period 2000-2019. This period includes several economic changes, among which are the strong expansion at the beginning of the century, the Great Recession, and the subsequent recovery. Our study includes several groups of countries. In the broadest case, the study comprises a group of 83 countries and analyses the issue both from a global perspective as well as focusing particular attention on European countries. These asymmetric effects of economic activity are in line with behavioural economics and previous literature and allow us to determine a macroeconomic aversion to losses. The results obtained support the existence of asymmetric effects of changes in aggregate income on subjective well-being, and show that losses generated in recessions require a far more vigorous recovery if they are to be compensated for, and that they might even have permanent effects.

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“…Algunos autores se concentran en las limitaciones de los supuestos del enfoque tradicional para justificar medidas basadas en el enfoque de felicidad (Hirschauer et al, 2015; Oishi y Diener, 2014; Ott, 2010; Tanasescu y Oprean, 2013). Estos autores se basan en la metodología de revisión de la literatura y enfatizan las restricciones del enfoque tradicional en cuanto a la caracterización antropológica de los individuos y, por tanto, de la identificación de capacidades de estos (Becchetti, Massari y Naticchioni, 2014); ideas que retoman de economistas como Amartya Sen. Para Lelkes (2013), la elección de instituciones podría tomar en cuenta su capacidad para mejorar los niveles de felicidad, aun si este no es el propósito último de ellas.…”

Section: Utilidad O Felicidad Como Finesunclassified

“…Por ejemplo, Choudhary, Levine, Mcadam y Welz (2012) establecen comparaciones relativas en la formación de hábitos (consumo y oferta de trabajo), con el propósito de medir los niveles de felicidad. El método de recolección más usado en esta clasificación es la entrevista semiestructurada, en el que juegan un factor importante el autoreconocimiento de la felicidad y la trayectoria personal (Hirschauer et al, 2015). Las relaciones personales parecen estar mejor correlacionadas con mayor bienestar (Schwarze y Winkelmann, 2011).…”

Section: Variables De Características Psicológicasunclassified

“…Por una parte, comparan el enfoque de utilidad con el de felicidad (Schubert, 2012), al recopilar información sobre la amplia evidencia empírica y econométrica que se le ha atribuido a dicha relación, en variables como el ingreso y la satisfacción con la vida (Becchetti y Pelloni, 2013). Sobre este punto, Hirschauer et al (2015) concluyen que el aporte más significativo de esta rama postula una concepción más acorde con los objetivos propios de la sociedad "real". Por otra parte, un grupo de autores se centra más en identificar cuáles son los determinantes de la felicidad, sin hacer comparaciones con el método tradicional, más bien justificando su posición desde una base histó-rica, filosófica y sociológica.…”

Section: Revisiones De Literaturaunclassified

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Felicidad en la política pública: una revisión de literatura

2018

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Bajo las condiciones siguientes:• Atribución -Debe reconocer los créditos de la obra de la manera especificada por el autor o el licenciante. Si utiliza parte o la totalidad de esta investigación tiene que especificar la fuente.• No Comercial -No puede utilizar esta obra para fines comerciales.• Sin Obras Derivadas -No se puede alterar, transformar o generar una obra derivada a partir de esta obra.Los derechos derivados de usos legítimos u otras limitaciones reconocidas por la ley no se ven afectados por lo anterior.El contenido de los artículos y reseñas publicadas es responsabilidad de los autores y no refleja el punto de vista u opinión de la Escuela de Economía de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas o de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia. El artículo revisa la literatura sobre felicidad desde una perspectiva de política pública. Se encuentra una tendencia, que debería fortalecerse en el futuro, a estudiar los efectos de diversas políticas sobre la felicidad, en lugar de extrapolar los efectos de trabajos sobre los determinantes. Dado que muchos métodos fueron diseñados para estudiar la utilidad, hace falta adaptarlos, especialmente en el tratamiento del tiempo, y en el uso de métodos experimentales y la evaluación de impacto. La noción de felicidad plantea preguntas importantes, pero todavía son necesarios más desarrollos para su uso fructífero en la toma de decisiones de política. The article surveys the recent literature on happiness from a policy perspective. We identified a trend in order to study the effects of different policies on happiness instead of simply extrapolating policy recommendations from studies on the determinants of happiness. We predict that this trend will become more pronounced in the future. As many policy tools were made for utility, they require adaptation to promote happiness, especially in terms of the treatment of time, the use of experimental methods, and impact evaluation. Happiness studies raise important and interesting questions; however, more developments are needed for them to be useful in aiding public policy. The content of all published articles and reviews does not reflect the official opinion of the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the School of Economics, or those of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in the articles and reviews lies entirely with the author(s). 95 ARTÍCULO

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Happiness and Utility in Economic Thought—Or: What Can We Learn from Happiness Research for Public Policy Analysis and Public Policy Making?

Cited by 38 publications

References 45 publications

The relationship between happiness and quality of life: A model for Spanish society

The relationship between happiness and quality of life: A model for Spanish society

Subjective Well-Being and Aversion to Macroeconomic Losses: New Evidence

Felicidad en la política pública: una revisión de literatura

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