Richer people are happier than poorer people, but when a country becomes richer over time, its people do not become happier. This seemingly contradictory pair of findings of Richard Easterlin has be-come famous as the Easterlin Paradox. However, it was met with counterevidence. To shed more...

This paper investigates relative or absolute happiness.

A central finding in happiness research is low correlations between income and happiness. This is paradoxical since most people seem to attach a high value to a rise in their income. The various versions of this paradox can be explained in terms of rising aspirations (Easterlin 2001) and...

This book is a welcome consolidation and extension of the recent expanding debates on happiness and economics. Happiness and economics, as a new field for research, is now of pivotal interest particularly to welfare economists and psychologists. This Handbook provides an unprecedented forum for...

Introduction -- The evidence on happiness -- Relative income and happiness -- Happiness and ethics -- Happiness and good development -- Happiness-oriented societal development under the premise of democracy -- Orientation for a knowledgeable world

In der gegenwärtigen Debatte um die Ziele sozio-ökonomischer Entwicklung nimmt Wirtschaftswachstum eine zentrale, wenn auch umstrittene Rolle ein. Während die eine Seite Wirtschaftswachstum als etwas Erstrebenswertes betrachtet, da sie es als Voraussetzung für Vollbeschäftigung und eine...