Happiness and economics is of pivotal interest particularly to welfare economists and psychologists. This handbook provides an unprecedented forum for discussion of the economic issues relating to happiness. It offers the reader an insight into the vast scope of the field in terms of the theory, its applications and also experimental design.

Contents: Introduction Luigino Bruni and Pier Luigi Porta PART I: LESSONS FROM THE PAST 1. Happiness, Wealth and Utility in Ancient Thought Gloria Vivenza 2. The ‘Technology of Happiness’ and the Tradition of Economic Science Luigino Bruni 3. Human Needs Hierarchy and Happiness: Evidence from the Late Pre-Classical and Classical Economics Stravos Drakopoulos and Anastasios Karayiannis 4. Jeremy Bentham’s Quantitative Analysis of Happiness and its Asymmetries Marco E.L. Guidi 5. Public Happiness and Civil Society Pier Luigi Porta and Roberto Scazzieri 6. Kant on Civilization, Moralization and the Paradox of Happiness Sergio Cremaschi PART II: UNDERSTANDING THE PARADOX OF HAPPINESS 7. If Happiness is so Important, Why Do We Know So Little About It? Marina Bianchi 8. Well-being and Consumption: Towards a Theoretical Approach Based on Human Need Satisfaction Monica Guillen Royo 9. Enjoyment of Life, the Structure of Time and Economic Dynamics Mario Cogoy 10. Experienced Versus Decision Utility of Income: Relative or Absolute Happiness Maarten Vendrik and Johannes Hirata 11. Past Product Experiences as Determinants of Happiness with Target Product Experiences: Implications for Subjective Well-being Rajagopal Raghunathan and Julie R. Irwin 12. The Life Plan View of Happiness and the Paradoxes of Happiness Mark Chekola PART III: RELATIONAL GOODS 13. The Income–Unhappiness Paradox: A Relational Goods/Baumol Disease Explanation Leonardo Becchetti and Marika Santoro 14. The Subjective Well-being Paradox: A Suggested Solution Based on Relational Goods Maurizio Pugno 15. The Not-So-Fragile Fragility of Goodness: The Responsive Quality of Fiduciary Relationships Vittorio Pelligra 16. Happiness, Morality and Game Theory Luca Zarri 17. Why are People so Unhappy? Why do They Strive so Hard for Money? Competing Explanations of the Broken Promises of Economic Growth Stefano Bartolini 18. On the Demand for Grandchildren: Tied Transfers and the Demonstration Effect Donald Cox and Oded Stark PART IV: DATA AND POLICIES 19. Values and Happiness in Mexico: The Case of the Metropolitan City of Monterrey Jose de Jesus Garcia, Nicole Christa Fuentes, Salvador A. Borrego, Monica D. Gutierrez and Alejandro Tapia 20. Happiness, Satisfaction and Socioeconomic Conditions: Some International Evidence Amado Peiró 21. Happiness and the Standard of Living: The Case of South Africa Nattavudh Powdthavee 22. Federalism Versus Social Citizenship: Investigating the Preference for Equity in Health Care Luca Crivelli, Gianfranco Domenighetti and Massimo Filippini 23. Happiness and Sustainability: A Modern Paradox Silva Marzetti Dall’Aste Brandolini 24. Ideals, Conformism and Reciprocity: A Model of Individual Choice with Conformist Motivations, and an Application to the Not-for-Profit Case Lorenzo Sacconi and Gianluca Grimalda Index

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