In standard economic theory human beings are portrayed as selfish money-maximizing actors. This book investigates the conditions under which people deviate from this prediction and when they are prepared to contribute to the common good in a more altruistic fashion.

What makes people happy in life? This crucial question has the potential to shake up economics. In recent years, dissatisfaction with the understanding of welfare in economics and new opportunities for empirical study of people’s subjective well-being have spurred impressive and stimulating...