Happiness as a Standard: Review of the Handbook on Wellbeing, Happiness and the Environment

In a footnote he refers to Helliwell, J. Layard, R. and Sachs, J. and their publication (2019) World Happiness Report. New York, USA, Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Tinbergen, J. (ed.) (1956) Economic Policy: Principles and Design, Amsterdam, Netherlands: North Holland.

Theil, H. (ed.) (1968) Optimal Decision Rules for Government and Industry, Amsterdam, Netherlands: North Holland.

For a more elaborate discussion see: Ott, J. (2020) Beyond Economics, happiness as a standard in our personal life and in politics. Palgrave MacMillan.

Ehrhardt, J., Veenhoven, R., Saris, W. (2000). Stability of life-satisfaction over time. Analysis of change in ranks in a national population. Journal of Happiness Studies (1) pp. 177–205. The correlation of subsequent measurements of individual overall happiness in one year is + 0.75; at least in stable nations. In the longer term time the correlation is reduced to less than 0.5, so overall happiness is not a personal trait like personality; it is sensitive to changes in living conditions.

Gerring, J. and Thomas, C. W. (2011). Quantitative and Qualitative: A Question of Comparability. Extended version of chapter published in International Encyclopedia of Political Science. Eds: Badie, B.; Berg-Schlosser, D.; Morlino, L.; Sage, 2011.

It is interesting that some characteristics of political systems have a positive impact on happiness: average happiness is higher in nations with a parliamentary (rather than presidential) executive, a proportional representation electoral system (as opposed to single member districts), and a unitary (rather than federal) governmental structure. Such characteristics probably have a moderating impact on polarization and a positive impact on political deliberations and discussions. See: Altman, D.; Flavin, P.; Radcliff, B.F.; (2016). Democratic Institutions and Subjective Wellbeing. Political Studies, 2016, 1–20.

Guven, C. (2011). Are happier people better citizens? Kyklos, 64 (2), 178–192.

Esaiassons, P., Dahlberg, S., Kokkonen, A. (2019). In pursuit of happiness: Life satisfaction drives political support. European Journal of Political Research.

The percentage of all differences that can be explained, or the R-squared in statistical terminology, is a helpful standard to assess the effectiveness of explanations of differences in actual phenomena. If 100 percent of the differences can be explained, then the effectiveness is perfect. It is important to notice however that a low R-squared does not imply that we do not know anything about some phenomenon. In many situations we can still explain or predict the impact of specific factors. If the R-squared is low however, we will have to be careful with general statements, because the implication is that we do not really know what is going on. A lack of information about important variables is a well-known problem (the problem of “omitted variables”).

The differences in average happiness in nations are very substantial, usually between 2 and 8 on a 0–10-scale. In 2019 there is a minimum of 2.37 for Afghanistan and a maximum of 7.78 for Finland. Source: Helliwell, J., Layard, R., & Sachs, J. World Happiness Report 2020, New York: Sustainable Development Solutions Network. (Site: https://​worldhappiness.​report/​ed/​2020/​ Data in Excel-file WHR_DataForTable2.1).