Measuring happiness : the economics of well-being / Joachim Weimann, Andreas Knabe, and Ronnie Schöb.

By:

Weimann, Joachim

Contributor(s):

Material type: Text

TextLanguage: English Original language: German Publication details: Cambridge, Massachusetts : MIT Press, 2015.Description: x, 212 pages ; 24 cmContent type:

text

Media type:

unmediated

Carrier type:

volume

ISBN:

9780262028448 (hbk.)

Uniform titles:

Geld macht doch glücklich. English

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

306 WEI 23 007788

Online resources:

Table of contents

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: I.The Economics of Happiness and Its Most Important Results 1.The End of Materialism? 2.Economists' Way of Thinking: "More Is Better Than Less" 3.The Easterlin Attack 4.If Money Doesn't Make Us Happy, What Then? 5.The Economic Determinants of Happiness 6.What Is to Be Done If Money Doesn't Make Us Happy? II.What Is Happiness Research Telling Us? 7.Are We Measuring Correctly? 8.How Much Truth Is There in the Easterlin Paradox? 9.Unemployed and Happy?! 10.The Importance of Relative Position 11.Conclusion.

Summary: An investigation of the happiness-prosperity connection and whether economists can measure well-being. Can money buy happiness? Is income a reliable measure for life satisfaction? In the West after World War II, happiness seemed inextricably connected to prosperity. Beginning in the 1960s, however, other values began to gain ground: peace, political participation, civil rights, environmentalism. "Happiness economics" -- a somewhat incongruous-sounding branch of what has been called "the dismal science" -- has taken up the puzzle of what makes people happy, conducting elaborate surveys in which people are asked to quantify their satisfaction with "life in general." In this book, three economists explore the happiness-prosperity connection, investigating how economists measure life satisfaction and well-being. The authors examine the evolution of happiness research, considering the famous "Easterlin Paradox," which found that people's average life satisfaction didn't seem to depend on their income. But they question whether happiness research can measure what needs to be measured. They argue that we should not assess people's well-being on a "happiness scale," because that necessarily obscures true social progress. Instead, rising income should be understood as increasing opportunities and alleviating scarcity. Economic growth helps societies to sustain freedom and to finance social welfare programs. In this respect, high income may not buy happiness with life in general, but it gives individuals the opportunity to be healthier, better educated, better clothed, and better fed, to live longer, and to live well.

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Holdings
Item type	Current library	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Book	Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore	306 WEI 008604 (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Available		008604
Book	Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore	306 WEI 007788 (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Available		007788

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: I.The Economics of Happiness and Its Most Important Results
1.The End of Materialism?
2.Economists' Way of Thinking: "More Is Better Than Less"
3.The Easterlin Attack
4.If Money Doesn't Make Us Happy, What Then?
5.The Economic Determinants of Happiness
6.What Is to Be Done If Money Doesn't Make Us Happy?
II.What Is Happiness Research Telling Us?
7.Are We Measuring Correctly?
8.How Much Truth Is There in the Easterlin Paradox?
9.Unemployed and Happy?!
10.The Importance of Relative Position
11.Conclusion.

An investigation of the happiness-prosperity connection and whether economists can measure well-being.
Can money buy happiness? Is income a reliable measure for life satisfaction? In the West after World War II, happiness seemed inextricably connected to prosperity. Beginning in the 1960s, however, other values began to gain ground: peace, political participation, civil rights, environmentalism. "Happiness economics" -- a somewhat incongruous-sounding branch of what has been called "the dismal science" -- has taken up the puzzle of what makes people happy, conducting elaborate surveys in which people are asked to quantify their satisfaction with "life in general." In this book, three economists explore the happiness-prosperity connection, investigating how economists measure life satisfaction and well-being. The authors examine the evolution of happiness research, considering the famous "Easterlin Paradox," which found that people's average life satisfaction didn't seem to depend on their income. But they question whether happiness research can measure what needs to be measured. They argue that we should not assess people's well-being on a "happiness scale," because that necessarily obscures true social progress. Instead, rising income should be understood as increasing opportunities and alleviating scarcity. Economic growth helps societies to sustain freedom and to finance social welfare programs. In this respect, high income may not buy happiness with life in general, but it gives individuals the opportunity to be healthier, better educated, better clothed, and better fed, to live longer, and to live well.

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