Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T08:21:53.375Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Happiness and public policy: a procedural perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2019

ALOIS STUTZER
ALOIS STUTZER*
Affiliation:
University of Basel, Faculty of Business and Economics and Center for Research in Economics and Well-Being (CREW), Basel, Switzerland
*
*Correspondence to: University of Basel, Faculty of Business and Economics and Center for Research in Economics and Well-Being (CREW), Peter Merian-Weg 6, 4002Basel, Switzerland. Email: alois.stutzer@unibas.ch
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article comments on the role of empirical subjective wellbeing research in public policy within a constitutional, procedural perspective of government and state. It rejects the idea that, based on the promises of the measurement, we should adopt a new policy perspective that is oriented toward a decision rule maximizing some aggregate measure of subjective wellbeing. This social engineering perspective, implicit in much reasoning about wellbeing policy, neglects: (1) important motivation problems on the part of government actors, such as incentives to manipulate indicators, but also on the part of citizens to truthfully report their wellbeing; and (2) procedural utility as a source of wellbeing. Instead, wellbeing research should be oriented toward gaining insights that improve the diagnoses of societal problems and help us to evaluate alternative institutional arrangements in order to address them, both as inputs into the democratic process.

Type
Articles
Information
Behavioural Public Policy , Volume 4 , Special Issue 2: On Happiness Being the Goal of Government , July 2020 , pp. 210 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Al-Ubaydli, O., List, J. A. and Suskind, D. (2019), The Science of Using Science: Towards an Understanding of the Threats to Scaling Experiments. NBER Working Paper No. w25848. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernheim, B. D. and Taubinsky, D. (2018), ‘Behavioral Public Economics’, in Bernheim, B. D., DellaVigna, S. and Laibson, D. (eds), Handbook of Behavioral Economics – Foundations and Applications 1, Volume 1. Amsterdam: North-Holland: 381–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bok, D. (2010), The Politics of Happiness: What Government Can Learn from the New Research on Well-Being, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brehm, J. W. (1966), A Theory of Psychological Reactance, Oxford: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Brennan, G. and Buchanan, J. M. (1986), The Reason of Rules: Constitutional Political Economy, Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchanan, J. M. and Tullock, G. (1962), The Calculus of Consent. Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Clark, A. E. (2003), ‘Unemployment as a Social Norm: Psychological Evidence from Panel Data’, Journal of Labor Economics, 21(2): 323–351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, A. E. (2016), ‘SWB as a Measure of Individual Well-Being’, in Adler, M. D. and Fleurbaey, M. (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Clark, A. E. (2018), ‘Four Decades of the Economics of Happiness: Where Next?’, Review of Income and Wealth, 64(2): 245–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, A. E. and Postel-Vinay, F. (2009), ‘Job Security and Job Protection’, Oxford Economic Papers, 61(2): 207–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
David, S., Boniwell, I. and Conley Ayers, A. (2013), Oxford Handbook of Happiness, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
De Jonge, P., Zeelenberg, M. and Verlegh, P. W. (2018), ‘Putting the Public Back in Behavioral Public Policy’, Behavioural Public Policy, 2(2): 218–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., Schimmack, U. and Helliwell, J. F. (2009), Well-Being for Public Policy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dolan, P. and Fujiwara, D. (2016), ‘Happiness-Based Policy Analysis’, in Adler, M. D. and Fleurbaey, M. (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, A., Luttmer, E. F. and Notowidigdo, M. J. (2013), ‘What Good is Wealth Without Health? The Effect of Health on the Marginal Utility of Consumption’, Journal of the European Economic Association, 11(S1): 221–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frey, B. S. (2008), Happiness: A Revolution in Economics, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frey, B. S. and Stutzer, A. (2002a), Happiness and Economics: How the Economy and Institutions Affect Well-Being, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Frey, B. S. and Stutzer, A. (2002b), ‘What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?’, Journal of Economic Literature, 40(2): 402–435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frey, B. S. and Stutzer, A. (2012), ‘The Use of Happiness Research for Public Policy’, Social Choice and Welfare, 38(4): 659–674.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frey, B. S. and Stutzer, A. (2014), ‘Economic Consequences of Mispredicting Utility’, Journal of Happiness Studies, 15(4): 937–956.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frey, B. S. and Stutzer, A. (2019), ‘Public Choice and Happiness’, in Congleton, R. D., Grofman, B. and Voigt, S. (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Public Choice,, Volume 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 779–795.Google Scholar
Frey, B. S., Benz, M., and Stutzer, A. (2004), ‘Introducing Procedural Utility: Not Only What, But Also How Matters’, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 160(3): 377–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frey, B. S., Luechinger, S. and Stutzer, A. (2009), ‘The Life Satisfaction Approach to the Value of Public Goods: The Case of Terrorism’, Public Choice, 138(3–4): 317–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frey, B. S., Luechinger, S. and Stutzer, A. (2010), ‘The Life Satisfaction Approach to Environmental Valuation’, Annual Review of Resource Economics, 2: 139–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, C. (2017), Happiness for All? Unequal Hopes and Lives in Pursuit of the American Dream. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Gregg, P. (1994), ‘Out for the Count: A Social Scientist's Analysis of Unemployment Statistics in the UK’, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 157(2): 253–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gruber, J. H. and Mullainathan, S. (2005), ‘Do Cigarette Taxes Make Smokers Happier?’, Advances in Economic Analysis and Policy, 5: 1–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hämäläinen, T. J. and Michaelson, J. (2014), Well-Being and Beyond: Broadening the Public and Policy Discourse. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R. and Sachs, J. (2019a), World Happiness Report 2019. New York: Sustainable Development Solutions Network.Google Scholar
Helliwell, J. F. et al. (2019b), ‘How to Open Doors to Happiness’, in Sachs, J. D., Adler, A., Bin Bishr, A., de Neve, J. E., Durand, M., Diener, E., Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R. and Seligman, M. (2019). Global Happiness and Wellbeing. Policy Report 2019. New York: Global Council for Happiness and Wellbeing: 8–25.Google Scholar
Hobbes, T. (1651), Leviathan. in Tuck, Richard (ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.Google Scholar
Hughes, J. J. (1976), ‘The Measurement of Unemployment: An Exercise in Political Economy?’, Industrial Relations Journal, 7(4): 4–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jung, S. and Clark, A. E. (2017), Does Compulsory Education Really Increase Life Satisfaction? IBER Working Paper Series No. 2017-6, Inha University, Institute of Business and Economic Research.Google Scholar
Kahneman, D. and Thaler, R. H. (2006), ‘Anomalies: Utility Maximization and Experienced Utility’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(1): 221–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahneman, D., Wakker, P. P. and Sarin, R. (1997), ‘Back to Bentham? Explorations of Experienced Utility’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(2): 375–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krekel, C. and Zerrahn, A. (2017), ‘Does the Presence of Wind Turbines Have Negative Externalities for People in Their Surroundings? Evidence from Well-Being Data’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 82: 221–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lane, R. E. (1988), ‘Procedural Goods in a Democracy: How One Is Treated Versus What One Gets’, Social Justice Research, 2(3): 177–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Layard, R. (2005), Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. New York: Penguin.Google Scholar
Levinson, A. (2012), ‘Valuing Public Goods Using Happiness Data: The Case of Air Quality’, Journal of Public Economics, 96(9): 869–880.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitas, R. (1996), ‘Fiddling while Britain Burns? The “Measurement” of Unemployment’, in Levitas, R. and Guy, W. (eds), Interpreting Official Statistics. London and New York: Routledge: 45–65.Google Scholar
Loewenstein, G., O'Donoghue, T. and Rabin, M. (2003), ‘Projection Bias in Predicting Future Utility’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(4): 1209–1248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luechinger, S. (2009), ‘Valuing Air Quality Using the Life Satisfaction Approach’, Economic Journal, 119(536): 482–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luechinger, S. and Raschky, P. A. (2009), ‘Valuing Flood Disasters Using the Life Satisfaction Approach’, Journal of Public Economics, 93(3–4): 620–633.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luechinger, S., Meier, S. and Stutzer, A. (2010), ‘Why Does Unemployment Hurt the Employed? Evidence from the Life Satisfaction Gap Between the Public and the Private Sector’, Journal of Human Resources, 45(4): 998–1045.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., and Diener, E. (2005), ‘The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success?’, Psychological Bulletin, 131(6): 803–855.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manning, M., Fleming, C. M. and Ambrey, C. L. (2016), ‘Life Satisfaction and Individual Willingness to Pay for Crime Reduction’, Regional Studies, 50(12): 2024–2039.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mueller, D. C. (2003), Public Choice III. Cambridge, New York and Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Donnell, G. and Oswald, A. J. (2015), ‘National Well-Being Policy and a Weighted Approach to Human Feelings’, Ecological Economics, 120: 59–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Donnell, G., Deaton, A., Durand, M., Halpern, D. and Layard, R. (2014), Well-Being and Policy. London: Legatum Institute.Google Scholar
Odermatt, R. and Stutzer, A. (2015), ‘Smoking Bans, Cigarette Prices and Life Satisfaction’, Journal of Health Economics, 44: 176–194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Odermatt, R. and Stutzer, A. (2018), ‘Subjective Well-Being and Public Policy’, in Diener, E., Oishi, S. and Tay, L. (eds), Handbook of Well-Being. Noba Scholar Handbook Series: Subjective Well-being. Salt Lake City, UT: DEF Publishers.Google Scholar
Odermatt, R. and Stutzer, A. (2019), ‘(Mis-)Predicted Subjective Well-Being Following Life Events’, Journal of the European Economic Association, 17(1): 245–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olken, B. A. (2010), ‘Direct Democracy and Local Public Goods: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Indonesia’, American Political Science Review, 104(2): 243–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oreopoulos, P. (2007), ‘Do Dropouts Drop Out Too Soon? Wealth, Health and Happiness from Compulsory Schooling’, Journal of Public Economics, 91(11–12): 2213–2229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rawls, J. (1971), A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Sachs, J. D., Adler, A., Bin Bishr, A., de Neve, J. E., Durand, M., Diener, E., Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R. and Seligman, M. (2019), Global Happiness and Wellbeing. Policy Report 2019. New York: Global Council for Happiness and Wellbeing.Google Scholar
Sheldon, K. M. and Lucas, R. E. (2014), Stability of Happiness: Theories and Evidence on Whether Happiness Can Change. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Stutzer, A. and Frey, B. S. (2006), ‘Political Participation and Procedural Utility: An Empirical Study’, European Journal of Political Research, 45(3): 391–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stutzer, A. and Frey, B. S. (2010), ‘Recent Advances in the Economics of Individual Subjective Well-Being’, Social Research, 77(2): 679–714.Google Scholar
Stutzer, A. and Lalive, R. (2004), ‘The Role of Social Work Norms in Job Searching and Subjective Well-Being’, Journal of the European Economic Association, 2(4): 696–719.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sunstein, C. R. (2019), ‘Ruining Popcorn? The Welfare Effects of Information’, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 58: 121–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Praag, B. M. S. and Baarsma, B. E. (2005), ‘Using Happiness Surveys to Value Intangibles: The Case of Airport Noise’, Economic Journal, 115(500): 224–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welsch, H. (2006), ‘Environment and Happiness: Valuation of Air Pollution Using Life Satisfaction Data’, Ecological Economics, 58(4): 801–813.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welsch, H. and Kühling, J. (2009), ‘Using Happiness Data for Environmental Valuation: Issues and Applications’, Journal of Economic Surveys, 23(2): 385–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar