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The paradox of Happiness: towards an alternative explanation

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Author Info
Drakopoulos, Stavros A.

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Abstract

ABSTRACT There is a common empirical finding in many countries that substantial increases in real per capita income do not correspond to equivalent increases of individual happiness. These findings have puzzled many economists that some have called the “paradox of happiness”. There have been a number of explanations regarding this paradox. This paper attempts to tackle the paradox of happiness by employing the idea of hierarchical choice. The hierarchical approach implies that there are some basic human needs which must be satisfied before non-basic needs come into the picture. The paper argues that the hierarchical structure of needs implies that the satisfaction of basic needs provides substantial increases to individual happiness compared to the subsequent satisfaction of secondary needs. This might also be an alternative explanation of empirical findings showing a positive relationship between income and happiness up to certain level of income.

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File URL: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/6870/
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File URL: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/8941/
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by University Library of Munich, Germany in its series MPRA Paper with number 6870.

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Date of creation: Nov 2005
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Publication status: Published in Journal of Happiness Studies 2.9(2008): pp. 303-315
Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:6870

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Related research
Keywords: Happiness human Needs

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General Welfare

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Canova, Luigina & Rattazzi, Anna Maria Manganelli & Webley, Paul, 2005. "The hierarchical structure of saving motives," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 21-34, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Christian Bjornskov, 2003. "The Happy Few: Cross--Country Evidence on Social Capital and Life Satisfaction," Kyklos, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 56(1), pages 3-16, February.
  3. Lluch, Constantino, 1973. "The extended linear expenditure system," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 21-32, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Lavoie, Marc, 2004. "Post Keynesian consumer theory: Potential synergies with consumer research and economic psychology," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 639-649, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Clark, Andrew E. & Oswald, Andrew J., 1996. "Satisfaction and comparison income," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 359-381, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Easterlin, Richard A., 1995. "Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 35-47, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Oswald, Andrew, 1997. "Happiness and Economic Performance," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 478, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Luigino Bruni, 2004. "The 'Happiness transformation problem' in the Cambridge tradition," European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 11(3), pages 433-451, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2004. "Well-being over time in Britain and the USA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1359-1386, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. Drakopoulos, S A, 1994. " Hierarchical Choice in Economics," Journal of Economic Surveys, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 8(2), pages 133-53, June.
  11. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Paul Frijters, 2004. "How Important is Methodology for the estimates of the determinants of Happiness?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(497), pages 641-659, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Drakopoulos, S. A. & Theodossiou, I., 1997. "Job satisfaction and target earnings," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 693-704, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Phelps, Charlotte D., 2001. "A clue to the paradox of happiness," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 293-300, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Max-Neef, Manfred, 1995. "Economic growth and quality of life: a threshold hypothesis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 115-118, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Kahneman, Daniel & Wakker, Peter P & Sarin, Rakesh, 1997. "Back to Bentham? Explorations of Experienced Utility," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(2), pages 375-405, May.
  16. Scott, Anthony, 2002. "Identifying and analysing dominant preferences in discrete choice experiments: An application in health care," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 383-398, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Easterlin, Richard A, 2001. "Income and Happiness: Towards an Unified Theory," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(473), pages 465-84, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Maurizio Pugno, 2005. "The happiness paradox: a formal explanation from psycho-economics," Department of Economics Working Papers 0501, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia. [Downloadable!]
  19. Jon Elster, 1998. "Emotions and Economic Theory," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 47-74, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Frank, Robert H, 1997. "The Frame of Reference as a Public Good," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(445), pages 1832-47, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada, 2005. "Income and well-being: an empirical analysis of the comparison income effect," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(5-6), pages 997-1019, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Drakopoulos, S A, 1992. "Psychological Thresholds, Demand and Price Rigidity," The Manchester School of Economic & Social Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 60(2), pages 152-68, June.
  23. Kenny, Charles, 1999. "Does Growth Cause Happiness, or Does Happiness Cause Growth?," Kyklos, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(1), pages 3-25.
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Drakopoulos, Stavros A., 2008. "The Concept Of Comparison Income: An Historical Perspective," MPRA Paper 8713, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
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