Happiness Economics deals with the concept of happiness in economics. Most economists until recently were very suspicious about happiness economics and the common opinion was that happiness is not empirically measurable. Actually there is now a growing body of serious economists who are willing, either reluctantly or wholeheartedly, to include happiness economics as a part of economic science. For a better understanding of happiness economics, the authors examine the viewpoint of mainstream economics in the introduction. Section 2 starts by considering the methods of analysis in happiness economics. Section 3 considers life satisfaction (or happiness), Section 4 considers domain satisfactions, Section 5 returns to the ordinality-cardinality question, and Section 6 provides the link between domain satisfactions and satisfaction with life as a whole. Section 7 considers the work of the Leyden school that may be seen as a forerunner of modern happiness economics. Section 8 considers the effect of the individual's reference group on her or his happiness. Section 9 examines the influence of past events and the anticipated future on present life satisfaction. Section 10 deals with the effect of climate and more generally of the external environment on satisfaction. Section 11 considers the effect of inequality on individual happiness and considers happiness inequality per se. Section 12 considers how the vignette approach, so popular in marketing, can be applied in happiness economics. Section 13 delineates the significance of happiness economics for normative economics. And Section 14 draws some conclusions and discusses the relevance of the new findings for economic science and the social sciences in general.

A growing number of cities around the world have established systems for monitoring the quality of urban life. Many of those systems combine objective information with subjective opinions and cover a wide variety of topics. This book assesses a method that takes advantage of both types of information and offers criteria to identify and rank the issues of potential importance for urban dwellers. This method which combines the so-called 'hedonic price' and 'life satisfaction' approaches to value public goods was tested in pilot studies in six Latin American cities: Bogota, Buenos Aires, Lima, Medellin, Montevideo, and San Jose of Costa Rica. It provides valuable insights to address key questions such as, Which urban problems have the greatest impact on people s opinions of city management and the most widespread effects on their lives? Do gaps between perception and reality vary from one area of the city to another, especially between high- and low-income neighborhoods? Where can homebuilders most feasibly seek solutions to problems such as inadequate road infrastructure, a lack of recreational areas, or poor safety conditions? Which problems should government authorities address first, in light of their impact on the well-being of various groups of individuals and given private actors abilities to respond? Which homeowners benefit the most from public infrastructure or services? When can or should property taxes be used to finance the provision of certain services or the solution of certain problems? 'The Quality of Life in Latin American Cities: Markets and Perception' proposes a monitoring system that is easy to operate and that entails reasonable costs but also has a solid conceptual basis. Long the ideal of many scholars and practitioners, such a system may soon become a reality and have the potential to make a significant contribution to the decision-making processes in any city concerned with the well-being of its residents."

When the overall economic pie is not growing, then how it is shared out becomes more important. This book is a collection of empirical and theoretical papers by a distinguished set of international authors about the personal distribution of welfare and household production. Comparisons of poverty, income inequality and income capacity across countries in Europe and North America are the basis of Part I. Three chapters introduce subjective (non-monetary) approaches to the assessment of personal economic welfare. In Part III new results about the measurement of inequality and poverty are derived. Part V explores topics examining interactions between personal welfare and the resources derived from one's household, the labor market, and from the government through the tax and benefit system. The book reflects the interests of, and is a memorial to, the late Aldi Hagenaars.

When the overall economic pie is not growing, then how it is shared out becomes more important. This book is a collection of empirical and theoretical papers by a distinguished set of international authors about the personal distribution of welfare and household production. Comparisons of poverty, income inequality and income capacity across countries in Europe and North America are the basis of Part I. Three chapters introduce subjective (non-monetary) approaches to the assessment of personal economic welfare. In Part III new results about the measurement of inequality and poverty are derived. Part V explores topics examining interactions between personal welfare and the resources derived from one's household, the labor market, and from the government through the tax and benefit system. The book reflects the interests of, and is a memorial to, the late Aldi Hagenaars.

How do we measure happiness? Focusing on subjective measures as a proxy for welfare and well-being, this book finds ways to do that. Subjective measures have been used by psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, and, more recently, economists to answer a variety of scientifically and politically relevant questions. Van Praag, a pioneer in this field since 1971, and Ferrer-i-Carbonell present in this book a generally applicable methodology for the analysis of subjective satisfaction. Drawing on a range of surveys on people's satisfaction with their jobs, income, housing, marriages, and government policy, among other areas of life, this book shows how satisfaction with life "as a whole" is an aggregate of these domain satisfactions. Using German, British, Dutch, and Russian data, the authors cover a wide range of topics. This groundbreaking book presents a new and fruitful methodology that constitutes a welcome addition to the social sciences. The paperback edition has been revised to bring the literature review up-to-date and the chapter on poverty has been revised and extended to take account of new research.