Table of Contents

Preface vii PART I: Setting the Stage CHAPTER 1: Happiness 3 CHAPTER 2: Well-Being and Economics 19 CHAPTER 3: Personality and Socio-Demograohic Influences on happiness 49 PART II: Economic Effects on Happiness CHAPTER 4: Income 73 CHAPTER 5: Employment 95 CHAPTER 6: Inflation 111 PART III: Political Effects on Happiness CHAPTER 7: The Current Politico-Economic Process 121 CHAPTER 8: Constitution: Popular Referenda and Federalism 133 CHAPTER 9: Outcome and Process 153 PART IV: Conclusions CHAPTER 10: Happiness Inspires Economics 171 APPENDIX A 185 APPENDIX B 191 References 195 Data Sources 215 Index 217

Promotional Information

This is a first-class book. It is a great read whether you are a social scientist or just someone who wants to understand what makes human beings tick. It will even make you happy. Frey and Stutzer's timing is perfect. They have written a marvelous book just as the field is about to take off. Their scholarship is excellent; they write beautifully; the topic is important. Terrific work. -- Andrew J. Oswald, Warwick University This is a timely, excellent, insightful, and highly readable book by two authors who have an obvious command of their subject. It should become the standard reference text on the rapidly expanding academic study of happiness. It will appeal not only to a wide range of social scientists but also to a wide public audience outside academia. Bruno Frey and Alois Stutzer offer a comprehensive historical account that also reaches to the limits of our current understanding. -- Robert MacCulloch, London School of Economics

About the Author

Bruno S. Frey is Professor of Economics at the Institute for Empirical Research in Economics in Zurich. He is the author of Economics as a Science of Human Behavior, Not Just for the Money: An Economic Theory of Personal Motivation, The New Democratic Federalism for Europe and Inspiring Economics. Alois Stutzer is a lecturer on the theory of economic policy at the University of Zurich. He has authored several papers in the fields of public choice, labor economics, and economics and psychology.

Reviews

"Frey and Stutzer are highly successful in their effort to synthesize--from an economic perspective--happiness research from a variety of disciplines and to extend that research, using an economic orientation."--Choice "With commendable expertise [the authors] integrate explanations of human well-being from psychology, sociology and political science with the few studies of happiness that have been undertaken by economists... Frey and Stutzer support the unfashionable proposition that subjective well-being is indeed something that economists can and should study, and they marshal a strong case in favor of this view."--David Throsby, Times Literary Supplement "A major breakthrough in economic research."--R.E. Lane, Journal of Economics