A large literature in macroeconomics assumes a social objective function, W(p, U), where inflation, p, and unemployment, U, are bads. This paper provides some of the first formal evidence for such an approach. It uses data on the reported well-being levels of approximately one quarter of a...

Using cross-sectional time series data from a large group of African countries, we examine the effects of income, institutions and social capital - with emphasis on the latter - on literacy and life expectancy. The empirical results confirm that income has a positive contribution. We also show...

We use data on the subjective well-being of more than a quarter of a million people living in the OECD over the period 1975-92 to study the behavior of partisan social happiness functions. Controlling for personal characteristics of the respondents, year and country fixed effects and country...