satisfaction trajectory of the central and eastern European transition countries – a U-shaped swing and a nil or declining trend …. There is no evidence of an increase in life satisfaction of the magnitude that might have been expected to result from the … accompanying dissolution of the social safety net along with growing income inequality. The burden of worsening life satisfaction …

. These conclusions are suggested by an analysis of a wide range of evidence on happiness in countries throughout the world. … employment and a generous and comprehensive social safety net do increase happiness. Such policies are arguably affordable not … only in higher income nations but also in countries that account for most of the population of the less-developed world …

Survey data from urban China in 2002 show levels of life satisfaction to be low, but not exceptionally so, by … international comparison. Many of the determinants of life satisfaction in urban China appear comparable to those for people in … and political participation raise life satisfaction. People appear fairly satisfied with economic growth and low inflation …

This paper examines a famous puzzle in social science. Why do some nations report such high happiness? Denmark, for …

After having been ignored for a long time by economists, happiness is becoming an object of serious research in 21st … century economics. In Section 2 we sketch the present status of happiness economics. In Section 3 we consider the practical … applicability of happiness economics, retaining the assumption of ordinal individual utilities. In Section 4 we introduce a cardinal …

reported happiness levels. In analysing the determinants of happiness, we argue that it is important to control for dynamics … and initial conditions. The latter arguably measures an initial setpoint of happiness which the psychological literature …

most countries around the world. Turning to the relationship between countries, we show that average life satisfaction is … higher in countries with greater GDP per capita. The magnitude of the satisfaction-income gradient is roughly the same …-being. Finally, studying changes in satisfaction over time, we find that as countries experience economic growth, their citizens …

The relationship between happiness and work is subject to an ever growing empirical literature in economics. The … investigates the effect of job loss and becoming unemployed, another field of study focuses on the determinants of job satisfaction … evolving around employment conditions, self-employment, and potential public sector satisfaction premiums. A smaller part of …

and negative effects for middle household income families. We find similar negative effects on life satisfaction for both … men and women, but different effects on satisfaction with work-life balance. This suggests that fathers' life satisfaction …

Long term trends in happiness and income are not related; short term fluctuations in happiness and income are … artifact. Some analysts assert that in less developed countries happiness and economic growth are positively related "up to … initial level, life satisfaction has not improved. …