This paper examines how the level and dispersion of self-reported happiness has evolved over the period 1972 …-2006. While there has been no increase in aggregate happiness, inequality in happiness has fallen substantially since the 1970s …. There have been large changes in the level of happiness across groups: Two-thirds of the black-white happiness gap has been …

that measures of subjective well-being indicate that women’s happiness has declined both absolutely and relative to men …-being, and is pervasive across demographic groups and industrialized countries. Relative declines in female happiness have eroded … a gender gap in happiness in which women in the 1970s typically reported higher subjective well-being than did men …

This article sheds light on the important differences in self-declared happiness across countries of similar affluence …. It hinges on the different happiness statements of natives and immigrants in a set of European countries to disentangle …-negligible importance in explaining international heterogeneity in happiness. In some countries, such as France, they are responsible for …

. The economics of happiness has emerged as one of the most thriving areas in current economic research. This introductory … chapter refers to important contributions to the economics of happiness that characterize the recent developments in the area …. First, we refer to reviews of the literature, the measurement and the relationship of happiness research to welfare …