This paper tests the empirical validity of Easterlin’s paradox, the absolute and relative income theorems which underpin it, and investigates associations between subjective well-being (SWB), economic growth and the factors which shape economic development via a series of multilevel...

We argue against the use of composite indices, such as the Human Development Index (HDI), in economic history. We show that the HDI can be interpreted as a formal representation of the analyst’s ethical system. We support our claim by introducing a new class of paternalistic social welfare...

What do social surveys of life cycle experience tell us about the determinants of subjective well-being? First, that the psychologists' setpoint model is wrong. Life events in the nonpecuniary domain, such as marriage, divorce, and physical disability, have a lasting effect on well-being, and do...