Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Economics of Happiness

  • Book
  • © 2018

Overview

Authors:
  1. Bruno S. Frey

    1. University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Focuses on what truly makes people happy
  • Explains how personal happiness can be measured
  • Shows what can be done to improve happiness in societies

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Economics (BRIEFSECONOMICS)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Happiness as a Goal of Human Beings

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 1-4

  3. Happiness Can Be Measured

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 5-11

  4. What Makes People Happy?

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 13-20

  5. Consequences of Happiness

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 21-23

  6. Psychological Influences on Happiness

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 25-27

  7. Happiness Maximization by the Government

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 29-31

  8. What Happiness Policy Is Appropriate?

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 33-39

  9. What About a Happiness Pill?

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 41-46

  10. Happiness and Consumption

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 47-49

  11. Happiness and Television Viewing

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 51-54

  12. Happiness and Management

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 55-58

  13. Happiness and Religion

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 59-62

  14. Happiness and War

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 63-70

  15. Happiness in the Digital World

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 71-72

  16. Beyond Material Aspects

    • Bruno S. Frey
    Pages 73-75
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This book focuses on what makes people happy. The author explains methods for measuring subjective life satisfaction and well-being by discussing economic and sociodemographic factors, as well as the psychological, cultural and political dimensions of personal happiness.
 
Does higher income increase happiness? Are people in rich countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Scandinavian countries, happier than those living elsewhere? Does losing one’s job make one unhappy? What is the role of genetic endowments inherited from our parents? How important are physical and emotional health to subjective life satisfaction? Do older people tend to be happier, or younger people? Are close social relationships necessary for happiness? Do political conditions, such as respect for human rights, democracy and autonomy, play a part? How can governments contribute to the population’s happiness? This book answers these questions on the basis of extensiveinterdisciplinary research reflecting the current state of knowledge.
 
The book will appeal to anyone interested in learning more about the various dimensions of personal well-being beyond the happiness-prosperity connection, as well as to policymakers looking for guidance on how to improve happiness in societies.


Reviews

“Frey’s book is a good piece of scholarly work and leads readers to think about new developments such as the transition to a digital economy, rarely studied topics such as war (including such sub-topics as combat flow and afterglow post-traumatic stress disorder), prison inmates, the use of happiness pills, and complicated decision-making processes (cognitive biases) and their possible effect on the happiness of individuals.” (Devrim Dumludag, Journal of Economics, Vol. 126, 2019)

“The book is well structured; after having a short introduction about the concept of happiness, we are guided through all the major economic questions, namely how to measure happiness, the possible determinants of happiness, and the relation of happiness to governments, consumption, management, religion, war, television and the digital world in general.” (Adam Tamas Tuboly, Journal of Economic Methodology, Vol. 26 (2), 2019)



Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Bruno S. Frey

About the author

Bruno S. Frey is Permanent Visiting Professor at the University of Basel and Research Director at CREMA – Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts, Zurich. Before he was Professor at the Universities of Constance, Zurich, Chicago, Warwick and Friedrichshafen; he was awarded five Honorary Doctorates in five countries. Frey published 21 books and more than 600 articles in scholarly journals.

Bibliographic Information

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation