Happiness, Economic Well-being, Social Capital and the Quality of Institutions

Since Jeremy Bentham, utilitarians have argued that happiness, not just income or wealth, is the maximand of individual and social welfare. By contrast, Rawls and followers argue that to share a common perception of living in a just society is the “ultimate good” and that individuals have a moral ability to evaluate just institutions. In this paper we argue that just institutions, apart from their intrinsic value, also have an instrumental value, both in economic performance and in happiness. Thus happiness -- or subjective well being -- is analyzed as being a function of economic well-being, the quality of public institutions and social ties. Cross section individual data from citizens in OECD countries show that income, education and the perceived quality of institutions have the highest impact on life satisfaction, followed by social capital. Country analysis shows a non linear but positive influence of per capita GDP on life satisfaction, but also that unemployment and inflation reduce average happiness, the former effect being stronger. Finally, better quality public institutions and having more social capital also bring more happiness. We conclude with some policy implications.Happiness; Democracy; Social Capital; Quality of Institutions

Museologia, património e direitos humanos

SIAM. Series Iberoamericanas de Museología. Año 3, Vol.

Resgatar a memória

Without books, the World would be meaningless. It would be meaningless for we owe practicallyeverything to those who came before us.And of those who came before, what has remained? Naturally, the record of their passage, the memory of theirexistence in multiple records. Anonymity does not exist because memory takes care of integrating thetestimony of each individual in another concept – the collective. It is from the personal contribution that thecollective lives – from the conjunction of nameless lives and of names that will be remembered for all times.It is in books, both in those that have disappeared and those we have preserved, that the Memory of the Worldlives on. Of the former, the latter bring us news. From these, we harvest each word so that they do not come tofall into oblivion.No one writes to be forgotten. They would not go to the trouble, if they did not think that what they want totransmit is important and should reach the future. It is for this very reason that readers are crucial. They arethe ones who carry the memory and have the task of rescuing it at every moment.Memory, a quality of the human mind, a complex mechanism associated to several epithets, which inthemselves are potential objects of analysis, is what books carry; what they have come to carry over themillennia, even if we cannot talk of the first «books» in these terms.Many are the supports on which the «written» record has been made. At the same time, perpetuity anddestruction have coincided, at times promoting memory, at others, competing to destroy it.However, we continue to live among books; among books that talk of books, that talk of men of the past andthe present; books which, already today, are books of the future

Arnaldo Saraiva : bibliografia (incompleta)

(...) Esta bibliografia, organizada cronologicamente, só contempla textos que o A. publicoudesde 1961 e que figuram em livros ou em catálogos não contempla textos de jornais,nem mesmo de revistas, salvo nos poucos casos em que deles foram feitas separatas, e noque respeita a duas ou três traduções. (...

EC60-1142 You and Your Money

Extension Circular 60-1142: is about You and Your Money. It states the purpose, suggested uses, materials needed, and the follow up

Corrupção e o sector público, uma análise cross-country

Mestrado em EconomiaO presente estudo tem como objectivo aferir o impacto da dimensão relativa do sector público na corrupção do país. A base de dados compreende uma selecção de 26 países para um período de 11 anos, 1995 a 2005, o que permite a estimação de um painel de dados. Conclui-se que o aumento dos gastos públicos relativos ao PIB resultam numa diminuição do Índice de Percepção de Corrupção (IPC), e o aumento das receitas fiscais relativas ao induzem aumento do IPC.This work aims to measure the impact of the public sector relative size in a country corruption level. The database comprises 26 countries for 11 years period, from 1995 to 2005. The data allows for the estimation of a panel data. It is concluded that an increase in public spending relative to the GDP results in a decrease in the corruption perception index (CPI), while an increase of tax revenues relative to the GDP causes a higher CPI