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Measures of Gross National Happiness

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  • Veenhoven, Ruut

Abstract

Happiness is rising on the political agenda and this calls for measures of how well nations perform in creating great happiness for a great number, analogous to measures of success in creating wealth, such as GDP. Happiness is defined as subjective enjoyment of one’s life as-a-whole and this can be measured using self-reports. Question on happiness are currently used in large scale surveys of the general population in nations. As a result we have now comparable data on happiness in 95 contemporary nations and time-series of 25 years and longer on 11 developed nations. These data can be aggregated in different ways: If the aim is simply greater happiness for a greater number of citizens, Average happiness (AH) is an appropriate measure. If the focus is on enduring happiness, it is better to combine average happiness with longevity in an index of Happy Life Years (HLY). If the aim is to reduce disparity among citizens a relevant indicator is the Inequality of Happiness (IH) in the nations as measured with the standard deviation. Average and dispersion can also be combined in an index of Inequality-Adjusted Happiness (IAH). Comparison across nations shows sizable differences on all these measures of gross national happiness and these differences correspond with societal characteristics that can be influenced by policy makers, such as freedom and justice. Comparison over time shows major improvement during the last decade.

Suggested Citation

  • Veenhoven, Ruut, 2007. "Measures of Gross National Happiness," MPRA Paper 11280, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:11280
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ruut Veenhoven, 2005. "Inequality Of Happiness in Nations," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 6(4), pages 351-355, December.
    2. Jan Ott, 2005. "Level and Inequality of Happiness in Nations: Does Greater Happiness of a Greater Number Imply Greater Inequality in Happiness?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 6(4), pages 397-420, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Delhey, Jan & Kroll, Christian, 2012. "A "happiness test" for the new measures of national well-being: How much better than GDP are they?," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Inequality and Social Integration SP I 2012-201, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    2. Salvatore Bimonte & Antonella D’Agostino, 2021. "Tourism development and residents’ well-being: Comparing two seaside destinations in Italy," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(7), pages 1508-1525, November.
    3. Wilson Bastos, 2020. "Want to make me happy? Tell me about your experiences but not your objects," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 978-1001, September.
    4. Sibylle Puntscher & Janette Walde & Gottfried Tappeiner, 2016. "Do methodical traps lead to wrong development strategies for welfare? A multilevel approach considering heterogeneity across industrialized and developing countries," Working Papers 2016-01, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    5. Yee Ngoo & Nai Tey & Eu Tan, 2015. "Determinants of Life Satisfaction in Asia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 141-156, October.
    6. Fabrizio Antolini, 2016. "The Evolution of National Accounting and New Statistical Information: Happiness and Gross Domestic Product, Can We Measure It?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(3), pages 1075-1092, December.
    7. Barber, Brian K. & Spellings, Carolyn & McNeely, Clea & Page, Paul D. & Giacaman, Rita & Arafat, Cairo & Daher, Mahmoud & El Sarraj, Eyad & Mallouh, Mohammed Abu, 2014. "Politics drives human functioning, dignity, and quality of life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 90-102.
    8. Salvatore Bimonte & Luigi Bosco & Arsenio Stabile, 2020. "Integration and Subjective Well-Being Among Off-Site University Students," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(3), pages 947-969, February.
    9. repec:zna:indecs:v:10:y:2012:i:1:p:88-102 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Jiun-Hao Wang, 2015. "Happiness and Social Exclusion of Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan - A Social Sustainability Perspective," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(2), pages 1-14, February.
    11. Schepelmann, Philipp & Goossens, Yanne & Makipaa, Arttu (ed.), 2009. "Towards sustainable development: Alternatives to GDP for measuring progress," Wuppertal Spezial, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, volume 42, number 42.
    12. Kocsis, Tamás, 2010. ""Hajózni muszáj!" A GDP, az ökológiai lábnyom és a szubjektív jóllét stratégiai összefüggései [Navigare necesse est." The connections between GDP, ecological footprint, and subjectiv," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(6), pages 536-554.
    13. Esther Yuet Ying Lau & Yeuk Ching Lam & John Chi-Kin Lee, 2021. "Well-Slept Children and Teens are Happier and More Hopeful with Fewer Emotional Problems," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(5), pages 1809-1828, October.
    14. Katalin Martinás, 2012. "Greatest Happiness Principle in a Complex System Approach," Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems - scientific journal, Croatian Interdisciplinary Society Provider Homepage: http://indecs.eu, vol. 10(2), pages 88-102.
    15. Sibylle Puntscher & Christoph Hauser & Janette Walde & Gottfried Tappeiner, 2015. "The Impact of Social Capital on Subjective Well-Being: A Regional Perspective," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 1231-1246, October.
    16. Gregor Gonza & Anže Burger, 2017. "Subjective Well-Being During the 2008 Economic Crisis: Identification of Mediating and Moderating Factors," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 1763-1797, December.
    17. Aviral Kumar Tiwari, 2011. "Happiness and Environmental Degradation: What Determines Happiness?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 31(4), pages 3192-3210.
    18. Bimonte, Salvatore & Faralla, Valeria, 2016. "Does residents' perceived life satisfaction vary with tourist season? A two-step survey in a Mediterranean destination," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 199-208.
    19. Xu Jiang & Lue Fang & Brianna R. Stith & Ru-de Liu & E. Scott Huebner, 2018. "A Psychometric Evaluation of the Chinese Version of the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 13(4), pages 1081-1095, December.
    20. Katalin Martinás & Ádám Kerényi, 2010. "On the Theory of Human Decisions in the Age of "beneficial globalization"," Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems - scientific journal, Croatian Interdisciplinary Society Provider Homepage: http://indecs.eu, vol. 8(2), pages 70-80.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    utilitarianism; happiness; cross-national; progress;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O2 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries
    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General

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