Economics and Happiness: Framing the Analysis

Citation

Winkelmann, R. (2007), "Economics and Happiness: Framing the Analysis", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 34 No. 8, pp. 566-566. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068290710763071

Anyone interested in economics as a social science should find this collection of essays a most valuable resource as it addresses in a very competent and engaging way a core issue of economics, namely how to determine value and well‐being and thus, in the end, good economic policy, based on the concept of happiness. The study of happiness and economics is at once a very old topic, discussed in the writings of the founders of modern economics, including Smith, Bentham, and Mill, and a very new one, spurred by progress in psychology on measuring happiness, and by an increasing amount of data and evidence. Both aspects – the history of thought on the origin and nature of happiness and the modern empirical research – are covered in this book. Clearly, there is more to well‐being than gross national product, and several chapters highlight the importance of social interactions and non‐pecuniary domains for happiness. The study of economics and happiness invites an interdisciplinary approach, and the list of experts who contributed to this volume includes leading researchers in economics, sociology, philosophy and psychology. Yet, because of the common concern of all papers in “What makes for a good life, and what can economics contribute to it?” they add to a coherent whole. All papers are written in a very clear and accessible manner, and the book can be recommended thus both as an excellent introduction to the literature and the issues for students of economics and happiness, as well as for a wider general readership.