Capabilities for the miserable : happiness for the satisfied

The aim of this paper is to explain the process of diversification of normative economics by presenting the work of two authors: Tibor Scitovsky [1910-2002] and Amartya Sen [1933-]. While these two authors first contributed to traditional welfare analysis from within, they were subsequently involved in the development of two different, and even opposed, programs: the economics of happiness and the capability approach. They focused on different concepts of well-being: the "joy" of satisfied consumers for Scitovsky, and the "capabilities" of deprived individuals for Sen. In imposing new theoretical frameworks, applications, as well as new concepts of well-being, which are measureable, the capability approach and the economics of happiness represent two major attempts to renew normative economic analysis.