EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Maximising Happiness?

Bruno Frey and Alois Stutzer

German Economic Review, 2000, vol. 1, issue 2, 145-167

Abstract: The measurement of individual happiness challenges the notion that revealed preferences only reliably and empirically reflect individual utility. Reported subjective well‐being is a broader concept than traditional decision utility; it also includes concepts like experience and procedural utility. Micro‐ and macroeconometric happiness functions offer new insights on determinants of life satisfaction. However, one should not leap to the conclusion that happiness should be maximized, as was suggested for social welfare function maximization. In contrast, happiness research strengthens the validity of an institutional approach, such as reflected in the theory of democratic economic policy.

Date: 2000
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (59)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0475.00009

Related works:
Journal Article: Maximizing Happiness? (2000) Downloads
Working Paper: Maximising Happiness? Downloads
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:germec:v:1:y:2000:i:2:p:145-167

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=1465-6485

Access Statistics for this article

German Economic Review is currently edited by Bernhard Felderer, Joseph F. Francois, Ivo Welch, Urs Schweizer and David E. Wildasin

More articles in German Economic Review from Verein für Socialpolitik Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-22
Handle: RePEc:bla:germec:v:1:y:2000:i:2:p:145-167