Why do economists study happiness?

Marcin Piekałkiewicz

The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 2017, vol. 28, issue 3, 361-377

Abstract: Recently economists have expressed increasing interest in studying the determinants of happiness. Their main task has been to identify economic and non-economic sources of well-being to define policies aimed at maximising happiness in nations. As yet, it has not been precisely explained why ‘happiness economics’ is actually a part of economic science. In this article, we show that happiness can be an economic concept providing a critical review of the literature on (a) economic applications of happiness data and (b) economic consequences of happiness. Happiness data have been used to analyse microeconomic phenomena and to value non-market goods. Happiness may act as a determinant of economic outcomes: it increases productivity, predicts one’s future income and affects labour market performance. A growing number of happiness studies indicate a role of personality traits in understanding the link between well-being and economic outcomes.

Keywords: Happiness; labour market outcomes; personality traits; productivity; subjective well-being; utility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C50 I31 J20 J30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:28:y:2017:i:3:p:361-377

DOI: 10.1177/1035304617717130

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