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Spring 2017

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 32, Number 1

Happiness Economics and Its Discontents

Nimish Adhia, Manhattanville College

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TheJournalofPrivateEnterprise32(1),2017,77–88HappinessEconomicsandItsDiscontentsNimishAdhiaManhattanvilleCollege______________________________________________________AbstractSeveralresearchershavestatisticallyanalyzedresponsestocertainsurveyquestionsandclaimedtohavefoundwhatmakespeoplehappy.Theresearchersgoontomakepolicyrecommendationssuchasreducingtheemphasisoneconomicgrowthandexpandingsocialwelfareprograms.Theyhave,however,leftunansweredmajorcriticismsabouttheirconceptual,methodological,andnormativethinking.Thispaperprovidesanaccountofsuchcriticismsorganizedaroundthreemajorthemes.First,happinessresearchersoftenconflatedistinctconcepts,suchaspleasure,happiness,andwell-being.Second,theirmeasuresofhappinessarenotquantitativelymeaningful.Third,theirpolicyrecommendationsarebasedoninsufficientlyrigorousnormativethinking.______________________________________________________JELCodes:A13,B40,Z18Keywords:happiness,subjectivewell-being,welfareanalysis,normativeeconomicsI.IntroductionInthenineteenthcentury,JeremyBenthamexpressedthehopethat,inreformingsociety,politicaleconomistsmightaimforthe“greatesthappinessforthegreatestnumber.”Butthatconceptfadedintwentieth-centuryeconomicthoughtbecauseofthegreatdifficultyofmeasuringhappinessacrosspeopleinawaythatisquantifiableandcomparable.Morerecently,agroupofeconomists,psychologists,politicalscientists,andotherresearchersclaimtohavefoundafunctionalmethodofmeasuringhappiness.“Wepossesswhatpriorgenerationsconspicuouslylacked,”declaresthepoliticalscientistBenjaminRadcliff(2013).“Withtheadventofsophisticatedmodernresearchmethods,wehavelearnedtomeasureandstudyhappiness”(p.3).Theopeningparagraphofarecentpaper(2005)bytheeconomistRichardEasterlin,aleaderintheuseofsuchmethods,laysthemoutverysuccinctly.Itaketheterms“well-being,”“utility,”“happiness,”“lifesatisfaction,”and“welfare”tobeinterchangeableandmeasuredbytheanswertoaquestionsuchasthataskedin

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Metadata [hide]

Title	Happiness Economics and Its Discontents
Authors/Creators:	Nimish Adhia, Manhattanville College
Year:	2017
Volume:	32
Number:	1
Pages:	77 - 88
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles
Keywords:	hapiness, subjective well-being, welfare analysis, normative economics

Citation:
Adhia, Nimish / 2017. "Happiness Economics and Its Discontents." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 32(1): 77-88.