Happiness and economic growth : lessons from developing countries / edited by Andrew E. Clark and Claudia Senik.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Clark, Andrew E., editor.

Senik-Leygonie, Claudia, editor.

Series:

Studies of policy reform

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economics--Psychological aspects.

Economics.

Economics--Philosophy.

Happiness--Economic aspects.

Happiness.

Income distribution.

Developing countries--Economic conditions.

Developing countries.

Economic conditions.

Physical Description:

xiv, 277 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2014.

Summary:

This volume, arising from a PSE-CEPREMAP-DIMeco conference, includes contributions by the some of the best-known researchers in happiness economics and development economics, including Richard Easterlin, who gave his name to the 'Easterlin paradox' that GDP growth does not improve happiness over the long run. Many chapters underline the difficulty of increasing well-being in developing countries, including China, even in the presence of sustained income growth. This is notably due to the importance of income comparisons to others, adaptation (so that we get used to higher income), and the growing inequality of income. In particular, rank in the local income distribution is shown to be important, creating a beggar-thy-neighbour effect in happiness. Wealth comparisons in China are exacerbated by the gender imbalance, as the competition for brides creates a striking phenomenon of conspicuous consumption on the housing market. Policy has to be aware of these effects. This applies in particular to those who try to use self-reported subjective well-being in order to generate a 'social subjective poverty line', which is a key issue in developing countries. However, the news is not only bad from the point of view of developing countries. One piece of good news is that GDP growth often seems to go hand-in-hand with lower happiness inequality, and thereby reduces the risk of extreme unhappiness.

Contents:

1 Life Satisfaction in the Transition from Socialism to Capitalism: Europe and China / Richard A. Easterlin Easterlin, Richard A., Yann Algan Algan, Yann 6

2 The Great Happiness Moderation: Well-being Inequality during Episodes of Income Growth / Andrew E. Clark Clark, Andrew E., Sarah Flèche Flèche, Sarah, Claudia Senik Senik, Claudia, Paul Seabright Seabright, Paul 32

3 Poor, or Just Feeling Poor? On Using Subjective Data in Measuring Poverty / Martin Ravallion Ravallion, Martin, Ekaterina Zhuravskaya Zhuravskaya, Ekaterina 140

4 Subjective Well-being and Social Evaluation: A Case Study of China / John Knight Knight, John, Ramani Gunatilaka Gunatilaka, Ramani, Xiaobo Zhang Zhang, Xiaobo 179

5 Income Comparisons in Chinese Villages / Andrew E. Clark Clark, Andrew E., Claudia Senik Senik, Claudia, Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada 216

6 Happiness and Economic Growth: A Panel / Stéfan Lollivier Lollivier, Stéfan, Conal Smith Smith, Conal, Martin Ravallion Ravallion, Martin, Richard A. Easterlin Easterlin, Richard A. 240

7 Concluding Remarks. How Inequality Matters to Well-being: Agency, Adaptation, and Changes versus Levels / Carol Graham Graham, Carol 249.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780198723653

0198723652

OCLC:

898330523