Happiness and Productivity

Andrew J. Oswald, Eugenio Proto () and Daniel Sgroi

The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) from University of Warwick, Department of Economics

Abstract: Little is known by economists about how emotions affect productivity. To make persuasive progress, some way has to be found to assign people exogenously to different feelings. We design a randomized trial. In it, some subjects have their happiness levels increased, while others in a control group do not. We show that a rise in happiness leads to greater productivity in a paid piece-rate task. The effect is large; it can be replicated; it is not a reciprocity effect; and it is found equally among males and females. We discuss the implications for economics.

Keywords: Labor productivity; emotions; well-being; happiness; positive affect; experimental economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eff, nep-exp, nep-hap, nep-hpe, nep-lab and nep-soc
Date: 2008
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wrk:warwec:882

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