Happiness and Political Institutions
نویسندگان
چکیده
The study of individual happiness has enriched economics with many new and sometimes challenging (preliminary) insights.1 More and more often, it is asked about the policy consequences that are to be derived from these insights. We observe that economic research on happiness has an explicit or implicit tendency to follow a “benevolent dictator” approach where the government, and individual politicians and public officials, are assumed to be able and willing to pursue people’s happiness, or to maximize a social welfare function where individuals’ welfare is proxied by individuals’ reported subjective well-being.
منابع مشابه
HAPPINESS , ECONOMY AND INSTITUTIONS Bruno S .
A cross-regional econometric analysis suggests that institutional factors in the form of direct democracy (via initiatives and referenda) and of federal structure (local autonomy) systematically and sizeably raise self-reported individual well-being. This positive effect can be attributed to political outcomes closer to voters' preferences, as well as to the procedural utility of political part...
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