Happiness and Productivity

Andrew Oswald, Eugenio Proto and Daniel Sgroi

No 269911, Economic Research Papers 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: Health Economics and Policy; Labor and Human Capital; Productivity Analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44
Date: 2008-12-21
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Happiness and Productivity (2015)
Working Paper: Happiness and Productivity (2013)
Working Paper: Happiness and Productivity (2009)
Working Paper: Happiness and Productivity (2008)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:uwarer:269911

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.269911

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