More Choice for Better Choosers: Political Freedom, Autonomy, and Happiness

A substantial literature finds that freedom in the sense of an expanded opportunity set is positively related to happiness. A contrasting literature, however, finds that an excess of choice can have socially undesirable outcomes. We test the effect of two types of freedom\u2014autonomy and political\u2014on happiness using five waves of World Values Survey data (1981\u20132008). We find evidence supporting the claim that equipping people with the tools to direct the course of their lives (i.e. increasing autonomy freedom) incentivizes the desire to investigate alternatives (e.g. political parties) before making a decision. The effect of freedoms on happiness is diminished in contexts where individuals have less experience with evaluating alternatives, such as in authoritarian or transitional countries

Individual control in decision-making and attitudes towards inequality: The case of Italy

Power is commonly defined as the control exercised by one or more persons over the choices, behaviours and attitudes of another or others. In this paper we focus on a different form of control, i.e., the control that a person exercises on her own choices, behaviours and attitudes. We conceptualize this different form of control by using the Millian idea of autonomy freedom. We argue that the power required for an individual to be in control of her own actions is exercised through her level of autonomy freedom. Autonomy freedom is, therefore, instrumental for an individual to have self-control over her own life. We claim that the extent of autonomy freedom significantly affects an individual's attitudes toward income inequality. More specifically, we point out, and empirically demonstrate, that individuals who enjoy high levels of autonomy freedom value income differences more than those whose degree of autonomy freedom is low \ua9 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Escaping the trap of "blocking": A kinetic model linking economic development and political competition

In this paper we present a kinetic model with evolutive stochastic game-type interactions, analyzing the relationship between the level of political competition in a society and the degree of economic liberalization. The above issue regards the complex interactions between economy and institutional policies intended to introduce technological innovations in a society, where technological innovations are intended in a broad sense comprehending reforms critical to production [3]. A special focus is placed on the political replacement effect described in a macroscopic model by Acemoglu and Robinson (AR-model [1], henceforth), which can determine the phenomenon of innovation 'blocking', possibly leading to economic backwardness. One of the goals of our modelization is to obtain a mesoscopic dynamical model whose macroscopic outputs are qualitatively comparable with stylized facts of the AR-model and the comparison is settled in a number of case studies. A set of numerical solutions is presented showing the non monotonous relationship between economic liberalization and political competition in particular conditions, which can be considered as an emergent phenomenon of the analyzed complex socioeconomic interaction dynamics.Fil: Dolfin, M.. Universita Degli Studi Di Messina; ItaliaFil: Knopoff, Damián Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigación y Estudios de Matemática. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Centro de Investigación y Estudios de Matemática; ArgentinaFil: Leonida, L.. University College London; Estados UnidosFil: Maimone Ansaldo Patti, D.. Universita Degli Studi Di Messina; Itali