How Should Happiness Guide Policy? Why Gross National Happiness is not opposed to Democracy

Gross National Happiness (GNH) as a political program carries with it the ambition to make a difference to real policy decisions. Whatever the precise understanding of GNH, it was al-ways intended to be more than a purely theoretical concept and to make a direct difference to policy making and, what is more, to actual development paths. Yet, whatever policy recom

Putting Gross National Happiness in the Service of Good Development

Gross National Happiness (GNH) has only recently appeared on the international stage, yet it was immediately met with sympathy by scholars, political activists, and politicians around the world. What is the reason for this strong appeal of this concept

Experienced versus Decision Utility of Income: Relative or Absolute Happiness

A central finding in happiness research is low correlations between income and happiness. This is paradoxical since most people seem to attach a high value to a rise in their income. The various versions of this paradox can be explained in terms of rising aspirations (Easterlin 2001) and positional externalities (Frank 1997). However, econometric/ statistical studies which test these explanations on the level of individual cross-sections are rare and have produced mixed results. A careful analysis of the results of such studies leads to the conclusion that there seems to be considerable support for the explanations mentioned. On the other hand, these explanations seem only partial and do not take into account top-down relations between life satisfaction and aspiration levels as implied by some studies. Therefore, an alternative explanation of the above paradox in terms of the intrinsic/extrinsic-goals distinction of Kasser and Ryan (1993) is investigated. This approach points to a second kind of discrepancy between decision utility and experienced utility of income and implies that life satisfaction depends on absolute rather than relative income. It has some potential, but, in its present stage, it yields less specific predictions with respect to the paradoxes than the theories of aspirations and positional externalities. On the other hand, in the case of top-down relations between life satisfaction and aspiration levels, the intrinsic/extrinsic-goals explanation seems more fundamental.Economics ;

Happiness research: contributions to economic ethics

Die empirische Glücksforschung hat in jüngster Zeit an Anerkennung gewonnen. Sie bietet einen viel versprechenden neuen Zugang zu der Frage, wie Wahl und Glück zusammenhängen. Da diese Frage sowohl für die Ethik als auch für die Wirtschaftswissenschaft zentral ist, scheint es lohnend zu untersuchen, welchen Beitrag diese Perspektive zur Wirtschaftsethik leisten kann. (ICEÜbers)"Empirical happiness research has been gaining wide acknowledgement recently and offers a promising new access to the question how choice and happiness relate to each other. Since this is a central question to both ethics and economics, it seems worthwhile to investigate what this perspective can contribute to economic ethics." (author's abstract

Testing the Easterlin hypothesis with panel data: The dynamic relationship between life satisfaction and economic growth in Germany and in the UK

Recent studies focused on testing the Easterlin hypothesis (happiness and national income correlate in the cross-section but not over time) on a global level. We make a case for testing the Easterlin hypothesis at the country level where individual panel data allow exploiting important methodological advantages. Novelties of our test of the Easterlin hypothesis are a) long-term panel data and estimation with individual fixed effects, b) regional GDP per capita with a higher variation than national figures, c) accounting for potentially biased clustered standard errors when the number of clusters is small. Using long-term panel data for Germany and the United Kingdom, we do not find robust evidence for a relationship between GDP per capita and life satisfaction in either country (controlling for a variety of variables). Together with the evidence presented in Stevenson and Wolfers (2008, BROOKINGS PAP ECO AC), we now count three exceptions supporting Easterlin s happiness-income hypothesis: the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom

Testing the easterlin hypothesis with panel data: The dynamic relationship between life satisfaction and economic growth in Germany and the UK

Recent studies focused on testing the Easterlin hypothesis (happiness and national income correlate in the cross-section but not over time) on a global level. We make a case for testing the Easterlin hypothesis at the country level where individual panel data allow exploiting important methodological advantages. Novelties of our test of the Easterlin hypothesis are a) long-term panel data and estimation with individual fixed effects, b) regional GDP per capita with a higher variation than national figures, c) accounting for potentially biased clustered standard errors when the number of clusters is small. Using long-term panel data for Germany and the United Kingdom, we do not find robust evidence for a relationship between GDP per capita and life satisfaction in either country (controlling for a variety of variables). Together with the evidence from previous research, we now count three countries for which Easterlin's happiness-income hypothesis cannot be rejected: the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom

Testing the Easterlin hypothesis with panel data: The dynamic relationship between life satisfaction and economic growth in Germany and in the UK

Recent studies focused on testing the Easterlin hypothesis (happiness and national income correlate in the cross-section but not over time) on a global level. We make a case for testing the Easterlin hypothesis at the country level where individual panel data allow exploiting important methodological advantages. Novelties of our test of the Easterlin hypothesis are a) long-term panel data and estimation with individual fixed effects, b) regional GDP per capita with a higher variation than national figures, c) accounting for potentially biased clustered standard errors when the number of clusters is small. Using long-term panel data for Germany and the United Kingdom, we do not find robust evidence for a relationship between GDP per capita and life satisfaction in either country (controlling for a variety of variables). Together with the evidence from previous research, we now count three countries for which Easterlin's happiness-income hypothesis cannot be rejected: the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom.Die neuere Forschung hat sich darauf konzentriert die Easterlin-Hypothese (Wohlbefinden und Volkseinkommen korrelieren im Querschnitt, aber nicht in der Zeitreihe) auf globaler Ebene zu testen. Unser Artikel liefert Argumente für das Testen der Easterlin-Hypothese auf nationaler Ebene, wo individuelle Paneldaten das Ausschöpfen wichtiger methodologischer Vorteile ermöglichen. Wir erweitern die bisherige Literatur zur Easterlin-Hypothese durch a) Schätzungen mit individuellen fixen Effekten anhand von längerfristigen Paneldaten, b) Verwendung von regionalem BIP pro Kopf mit einer höheren Varianz als nationale BIP-Daten und c) Berücksichtigung von potentiell verzerrten Cluster-Standardfehlern im Fall von wenigen Clustern. Wir verwenden längerfristige Paneldaten für Deutschland und Großbritannien und finden keine robuste Evidenz für einen Zusammenhang zwischen BIP pro Kopf und Lebenszufriedenheit in den beiden Ländern (unter Verwendung von einer Reihe von Kontrollvariablen). Zusammen mit früheren Forschungsergebnissen zählen wir drei Länder in denen die Easterlin-Hypothese nicht verworfen werden kann: die Vereinigten Staaten, Deutschland und Großbritannien

Zum systematischen Stellenwert von Wirtschaftswachstum: Ziel, Mittel oder weder noch?

"In der gegenwärtigen Debatte um die Ziele sozio-ökonomischer Entwicklung nimmt Wirtschaftswachstum eine zentrale, wenn auch umstrittene Rolle ein. Während die eine Seite Wirtschaftswachstum als etwas Erstrebenswertes betrachtet, da sie es als Voraussetzung für Vollbeschäftigung und eine Reihe anderer elementarer Güter sieht, fordert die andere Seite Nullwachstum oder gar wirtschaftliches Schrumpfen, da bereits die heutigen westlichen Lebensstile den Planeten überbeanspruchen. Diese Studie untersucht diese beiden Positionen kritisch und argumentiert, dass beide einen Fehler begehen, indem sie Wirtschaftswachstum zu einem substanziellen Ziel erheben, das es aus systematischen Gründen niemals sein kann. Da es keinen unmittelbaren, gesetzmäßigen Zusammenhang zwischen Wirtschaftswachstum und den meisten substanziellen Zielen gibt, ist es auch als Mittel nicht geeignet, und es wäre nichts dadurch verloren, wenn Wirtschaftswachstum als Ziel (und auch als Mittel) ignoriert und durch substanzielle Ziele (wie Vollbeschäftigung, Stabilisierung der öffentlichen Haushalte etc.) ersetzt würde. Wenn wir die richtigen substanziellen Ziele identifiziert haben, in der Erreichung dieser Ziele (einigermaßen) erfolgreich sind und zwischen konfligierenden Zielen einen angemessenen Ausgleich gefunden haben, werden wir genau die richtige Wachstumsrate haben, egal ob sie positiv oder negativ ausfallen wird." [Autorenreferat

Functional Consequences of the Postnatal Switch From Neonatal to Mutant Adult Glycine Receptor α1 Subunits in the Shaky Mouse Model of Startle Disease

Mutations in GlyR α1 or β subunit genes in humans and rodents lead to severe startle disease characterized by rigidity, massive stiffness and excessive startle responses upon unexpected tactile or acoustic stimuli. The recently characterized startle disease mouse mutant shaky carries a missense mutation (Q177K) in the β8-β9 loop within the large extracellular N-terminal domain of the GlyR α1 subunit. This results in a disrupted hydrogen bond network around K177 and faster GlyR decay times. Symptoms in mice start at postnatal day 14 and increase until premature death of homozygous shaky mice around 4–6 weeks after birth. Here we investigate the in vivo functional effects of the Q177K mutation using behavioral analysis coupled to protein biochemistry and functional assays. Western blot analysis revealed GlyR α1 subunit expression in wild-type and shaky animals around postnatal day 7, a week before symptoms in mutant mice become obvious. Before 2 weeks of age, homozygous shaky mice appeared healthy and showed no changes in body weight. However, analysis of gait and hind-limb clasping revealed that motor coordination was already impaired. Motor coordination and the activity pattern at P28 improved significantly upon diazepam treatment, a pharmacotherapy used in human startle disease. To investigate whether functional deficits in glycinergic neurotransmission are present prior to phenotypic onset, we performed whole-cell recordings from hypoglossal motoneurons (HMs) in brain stem slices from wild-type and shaky mice at different postnatal stages. Shaky homozygotes showed a decline in mIPSC amplitude and frequency at P9-P13, progressing to significant reductions in mIPSC amplitude and decay time at P18-24 compared to wild-type littermates. Extrasynaptic GlyRs recorded by bath-application of glycine also revealed reduced current amplitudes in shaky mice compared to wild-type neurons, suggesting that presynaptic GlyR function is also impaired. Thus, a distinct, but behaviorally ineffective impairment of glycinergic synapses precedes the symptoms onset in shaky mice. These findings extend our current knowledge on startle disease in the shaky mouse model in that they demonstrate how the progression of GlyR dysfunction causes, with a delay of about 1 week, the appearance of disease symptoms

Functional Consequences of the Postnatal Switch From Neonatal to Mutant Adult Glycine Receptor α1 Subunits in the Shaky Mouse Model of Startle Disease

Mutations in GlyR α1 or β subunit genes in humans and rodents lead to severe startle disease characterized by rigidity, massive stiffness and excessive startle responses upon unexpected tactile or acoustic stimuli. The recently characterized startle disease mouse mutant shaky carries a missense mutation (Q177K) in the β8-β9 loop within the large extracellular N-terminal domain of the GlyR α1 subunit. This results in a disrupted hydrogen bond network around K177 and faster GlyR decay times. Symptoms in mice start at postnatal day 14 and increase until premature death of homozygous shaky mice around 4–6 weeks after birth. Here we investigate the in vivo functional effects of the Q177K mutation using behavioral analysis coupled to protein biochemistry and functional assays. Western blot analysis revealed GlyR α1 subunit expression in wild-type and shaky animals around postnatal day 7, a week before symptoms in mutant mice become obvious. Before 2 weeks of age, homozygous shaky mice appeared healthy and showed no changes in body weight. However, analysis of gait and hind-limb clasping revealed that motor coordination was already impaired. Motor coordination and the activity pattern at P28 improved significantly upon diazepam treatment, a pharmacotherapy used in human startle disease. To investigate whether functional deficits in glycinergic neurotransmission are present prior to phenotypic onset, we performed whole-cell recordings from hypoglossal motoneurons (HMs) in brain stem slices from wild-type and shaky mice at different postnatal stages. Shaky homozygotes showed a decline in mIPSC amplitude and frequency at P9-P13, progressing to significant reductions in mIPSC amplitude and decay time at P18-24 compared to wild-type littermates. Extrasynaptic GlyRs recorded by bath-application of glycine also revealed reduced current amplitudes in shaky mice compared to wild-type neurons, suggesting that presynaptic GlyR function is also impaired. Thus, a distinct, but behaviorally ineffective impairment of glycinergic synapses precedes the symptoms onset in shaky mice. These findings extend our current knowledge on startle disease in the shaky mouse model in that they demonstrate how the progression of GlyR dysfunction causes, with a delay of about 1 week, the appearance of disease symptoms