Economics and Happiness

Business & Finance
Cover of the book Economics and Happiness by Henning Müller, GRIN Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Henning Müller ISBN: 9783640945160
Publisher: GRIN Publishing Publication: June 28, 2011
Imprint: GRIN Publishing Language: English
Author: Henning Müller
ISBN: 9783640945160
Publisher: GRIN Publishing
Publication: June 28, 2011
Imprint: GRIN Publishing
Language: English

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject Economics - Other, grade: 1,7, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, language: English, abstract: 'Money does not buy happiness' - with that statement Richard Easterlin (1974) somehow initiated a new field of research for economists. Within the last thirty years plenty of surveys and dozens of papers were produced to identify the determinants of happiness. Unfortunately little importance was attached to a definition or a consistent concept of what 'happiness' is. Only within the last decade happiness research has gained the self-efficacy to educe policy recommendations from its own insights - with ambiguous success. In my paper I will give a brief summary of the central findings in happiness research and introduce some approaches of explanations for surprising evidence. In the end I will present a few policy recommendations to illustrate the above mentioned dubiousness of success. As I have to present plenty of evidence I will set aside criticism of methodology in every single survey and leave it with a cross-the-board one right now: happiness research has to catch up to a considerable degree in methods of conceptualization, measurement and statistics. In the first section, I will present a general approach to the term 'happiness', its use and its measurement. Next I will describe the main identified and examined determinants1 of happiness - namely income, unemployment and inflation, democracy, hardship and inequality. Section 4 deals with concepts that perhaps can give a microtheoretical foundation for some of the results in happiness research. Not surprisingly they stem from psychology because classic economic theory assuming rational decisions ('homo oeconomicus') is not capable of describing irrationalities like rivalry, adaptation or aspiration level shifts. In the last section I will introduce some implications for policy found in literature. Finally, the content of this paper is summarized. Modern economic policy aims at stabilizing a steady economic growth. In contrast, Aristotle defines 'happiness' as self-sufficiency. Thus, there is an obvious discrepan-cy between happiness and what were reaching for today. So we should first take a look at what we want to study.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject Economics - Other, grade: 1,7, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, language: English, abstract: 'Money does not buy happiness' - with that statement Richard Easterlin (1974) somehow initiated a new field of research for economists. Within the last thirty years plenty of surveys and dozens of papers were produced to identify the determinants of happiness. Unfortunately little importance was attached to a definition or a consistent concept of what 'happiness' is. Only within the last decade happiness research has gained the self-efficacy to educe policy recommendations from its own insights - with ambiguous success. In my paper I will give a brief summary of the central findings in happiness research and introduce some approaches of explanations for surprising evidence. In the end I will present a few policy recommendations to illustrate the above mentioned dubiousness of success. As I have to present plenty of evidence I will set aside criticism of methodology in every single survey and leave it with a cross-the-board one right now: happiness research has to catch up to a considerable degree in methods of conceptualization, measurement and statistics. In the first section, I will present a general approach to the term 'happiness', its use and its measurement. Next I will describe the main identified and examined determinants1 of happiness - namely income, unemployment and inflation, democracy, hardship and inequality. Section 4 deals with concepts that perhaps can give a microtheoretical foundation for some of the results in happiness research. Not surprisingly they stem from psychology because classic economic theory assuming rational decisions ('homo oeconomicus') is not capable of describing irrationalities like rivalry, adaptation or aspiration level shifts. In the last section I will introduce some implications for policy found in literature. Finally, the content of this paper is summarized. Modern economic policy aims at stabilizing a steady economic growth. In contrast, Aristotle defines 'happiness' as self-sufficiency. Thus, there is an obvious discrepan-cy between happiness and what were reaching for today. So we should first take a look at what we want to study.

More books from GRIN Publishing

Cover of the book Interkulturelle Kommunikation, Interkulturelles Lernen, Interkulturelle Semantik by Henning Müller
Cover of the book 'As more Black Americans become middle income Americans the integrationist dream of the Civil Rights Movement has been substantially accomplished' - A discussion by Henning Müller
Cover of the book International Perspectives on Protection of Child Rights by Henning Müller
Cover of the book For the Unemployed and the Aged - The Development of the Social Security Act In the Course of the Great Depression and Its Introduction During the New Deal by Henning Müller
Cover of the book Introduction to International Law by Henning Müller
Cover of the book Performance Evaluation: Methods and their qualities by Henning Müller
Cover of the book 'Together they would be complete' Female Doubles in C. P. Gilman's 'The Yellow Wall-Paper' and H. James's 'The Bostonians' by Henning Müller
Cover of the book Anchored In The Absolute by Henning Müller
Cover of the book Das Konjunkturpaket II der Großen Koalition 2009 by Henning Müller
Cover of the book Fertility in Europe - A sociodemographic analysis by Henning Müller
Cover of the book Verb Valency - The dependents of the verb by Henning Müller
Cover of the book 'I'll be home by christmas' - An analysis of the first year of the Great War by Henning Müller
Cover of the book Lexical categories in early child English by Henning Müller
Cover of the book Management Report on Organisational Change at E.ON by Henning Müller
Cover of the book The role of viral advertising in brand equity building by Henning Müller
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy