Curiously, economists, whose discipline has much to do with human well-being, have shied away from factoring the study of happiness into their work. Happiness, they might say, is an ''unscientific'' concept. This is the first book to establish empirically the link between happiness and...

1. Introductory overview -- 2. The theoretical and metaphysical foundations of sciences -- 3. Economics and psychology -- 4. Evolutionary economics -- 5. Neuroeconomics -- 6. Happiness economics -- 7. Institutional economics -- 8. The capability approach -- 9. The civil economy approach -- 10....