The Political Economy Of Human Happiness

Author : Benjamin Radcliff
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107355354
Total Pages : 215 pages
Book Rating : 4.54/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Political Economy of Human Happiness written by Benjamin Radcliff and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-03-25 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Data, methods and theories of contemporary social science can be applied to resolve how political outcomes in democratic societies determine the quality of life that citizens experience. Radcliff seeks to provide an objective answer to the debate between left and right over what public policies best contribute to people leading positive and rewarding lives. Radcliff offers an empirical answer, relying on the same canons of reason and evidence required of any other issue amenable to study through social-scientific means. The analysis focuses on the consequences of three specific political issues: the welfare state and the general size of government, labor organization, and state efforts to protect workers and consumers through economic regulation. The results indicate that in each instance, the program of the Left best contributes to citizens leading more satisfying lives and, critically, that the benefits of greater happiness accrue to everyone in society, rich and poor alike.

Author : Amitava Krishna Dutt
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1849801975
Total Pages : 373 pages
Book Rating : 4.73/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Happiness, Economics and Politics written by Amitava Krishna Dutt and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For those already drawn by the allure of happiness studies, Dutt and Radcliff here provide a rich tour of the frontier in the field. And for curmudgeons, this work goes far to defuse the skeptical reflex. It is subtle, intelligent, wide-ranging, informative and even readable throughout. James K. Galbraith, The University of Texas at Austin, US This timely and important book presents a unique study of happiness from both economic and political perspectives. It offers an overview of contemporary research on the emergent field of happiness studies and contains contributions by some of the leading figures in the field. General issues such as the history and conceptualization of happiness are explored, and the underpinning theories and empirics analyzed. The ways in which economic and political factors both separately and interactively affect the quality of human life are examined, illustrating the importance of a self-consciously multi-disciplinary approach to the field. In particular, the effects of consumption, income growth, inequality, discrimination, democracy, the nature of government policies, and labor organization on happiness are scrutinized. In conclusion, the contributors prescribe what can and should be done at individual and societal levels to improve human well-being and happiness. This wide-ranging and interdisciplinary book makes a unique contribution to the literature. As such, it will prove a fascinating read for students and scholars of economics, political science, psychology, sociology, and of course, to those with a special interest in the analysis of happiness and human well-being.

Author : Bruno S. Frey
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400829267
Total Pages : 233 pages
Book Rating : 4.62/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Happiness and Economics written by Bruno S. Frey and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2010-11-16 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Curiously, economists, whose discipline has much to do with human well-being, have shied away from factoring the study of happiness into their work. Happiness, they might say, is an ''unscientific'' concept. This is the first book to establish empirically the link between happiness and economics--and between happiness and democracy. Two respected economists, Bruno S. Frey and Alois Stutzer, integrate insights and findings from psychology, where attempts to measure quality of life are well-documented, as well as from sociology and political science. They demonstrate how micro- and macro-economic conditions in the form of income, unemployment, and inflation affect happiness. The research is centered on Switzerland, whose varying degrees of direct democracy from one canton to another, all within a single economy, allow for political effects to be isolated from economic effects. Not surprisingly, the authors confirm that unemployment and inflation nurture unhappiness. Their most striking revelation, however, is that the more developed the democratic institutions and the degree of local autonomy, the more satisfied people are with their lives. While such factors as rising income increase personal happiness only minimally, institutions that facilitate more individual involvement in politics (such as referendums) have a substantial effect. For countries such as the United States, where disillusionment with politics seems to be on the rise, such findings are especially significant. By applying econometrics to a real-world issue of general concern and yielding surprising results, Happiness and Economics promises to spark healthy debate over a wide range of the social sciences.

Author : Bruno S. Frey
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319758071
Total Pages : 75 pages
Book Rating : 4.77/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Economics of Happiness written by Bruno S. Frey and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-02-26 with total page 75 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on what makes people happy. The author explains methods for measuring subjective life satisfaction and well-being by discussing economic and sociodemographic factors, as well as the psychological, cultural and political dimensions of personal happiness. Does higher income increase happiness? Are people in rich countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Scandinavian countries, happier than those living elsewhere? Does losing one’s job make one unhappy? What is the role of genetic endowments inherited from our parents? How important are physical and emotional health to subjective life satisfaction? Do older people tend to be happier, or younger people? Are close social relationships necessary for happiness? Do political conditions, such as respect for human rights, democracy and autonomy, play a part? How can governments contribute to the population’s happiness? This book answers these questions on the basis of extensive interdisciplinary research reflecting the current state of knowledge. The book will appeal to anyone interested in learning more about the various dimensions of personal well-being beyond the happiness-prosperity connection, as well as to policymakers looking for guidance on how to improve happiness in societies.

Author : L. Bruni
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1847204155
Total Pages : 635 pages
Book Rating : 4.58/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Handbook on the Economics of Happiness written by L. Bruni and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 635 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a welcome consolidation and extension of the recent expanding debates on happiness and economics. Happiness and economics, as a new field for research, is now of pivotal interest particularly to welfare economists and psychologists.

Author : Pablo Beramendi
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1316300757
Total Pages : 473 pages
Book Rating : 4.56/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Politics of Advanced Capitalism written by Pablo Beramendi and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-04-23 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book serves as a sequel to two distinguished volumes on capitalism: Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism (Cambridge, 1999) and Order and Conflict in Contemporary Capitalism (1985). Both volumes took stock of major economic challenges advanced industrial democracies faced, as well as the ways political and economic elites dealt with them. However, during the last decades, the structural environment of advanced capitalist democracies has undergone profound changes: sweeping deindustrialization, tertiarization of the employment structure, and demographic developments. This book provides a synthetic view, allowing the reader to grasp the nature of these structural transformations and their consequences in terms of the politics of change, policy outputs, and outcomes. In contrast to functionalist and structuralist approaches, the book advocates and contributes to a 'return of electoral and coalitional politics' to political economy research.

Author : Anthony Kenny
Publisher : Andrews UK Limited
ISBN 13 : 184540274X
Total Pages : 209 pages
Book Rating : 4.47/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Utility written by Anthony Kenny and published by Andrews UK Limited. This book was released on 2011-12-09 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A volume on the nature, ingredients, causes and consequences of human happiness by the father and son team of Anthony and Charles Kenny.

Author : William Davies
Publisher : Verso Books
ISBN 13 : 1781688478
Total Pages : 323 pages
Book Rating : 4.72/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Happiness Industry written by William Davies and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Deeply researched and pithily argued.” —New York Magazine “A brilliant, and sometimes eerie, dissection” of ‘the science of happiness’ and the modern-day commercialization of our most private emotions (Vice) Why are we so obsessed with measuring happiness? In winter 2014, a Tibetan monk lectured the world leaders gathered at Davos on the importance of Happiness. The recent DSM-5, the manual of all diagnosable mental illnesses, for the first time included shyness and grief as treatable diseases. Happiness has become the biggest idea of our age, a new religion dedicated to well-being. Here, political economist William Davies shows how this philosophy, first pronounced by Jeremy Bentham in the 1780s, has dominated the political debates that have delivered neoliberalism. From a history of business strategies of how to get the best out of employees, to the increased level of surveillance measuring every aspect of our lives; from why experts prefer to measure the chemical in the brain than ask you how you are feeling, to why Freakonomics tells us less about the way people behave than expected, The Happiness Industry is an essential guide to the marketization of modern life. Davies shows that the science of happiness is less a science than an extension of hyper-capitalism.

Author : David Spencer
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134048483
Total Pages : 191 pages
Book Rating : 4.89/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Political Economy of Work written by David Spencer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2008-09-25 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a new and unique assessment of the theoretical analysis of work, challenging some common preconceptions and promoting an original approach to the field, contemplating its nature, development and its impact on human well-being.

Author : Sebastiano Bavetta
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139992597
Total Pages : 255 pages
Book Rating : 4.96/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Freedom and the Pursuit of Happiness written by Sebastiano Bavetta and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-10-06 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about the relationship between different concepts of freedom and happiness. The book's authors distinguish three concepts for which an empirical measure exists: opportunity to choose (negative freedom), capability to choose (positive freedom), and autonomy to choose (autonomy freedom). They also provide a comprehensive account of the relationship between freedom and well-being by comparing channels through which freedoms affect quality of life. The book also explores whether the different conceptions of freedom complement or replace each other in the determination of the level of well-being. In so doing, the authors make freedoms a tool for policy making and are able to say which conception is the most effective for well-being, as circumstances change. The results have implications for a justification of a free society: maximizing freedoms is good for its favorable consequences upon individual well-being, a fundamental value for the judgment of human advantage.