Politická ekonomie 2009, 57(2):250-262 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.684

Ekonomie a štěstí

Pavel Štika
Karlova Univerzita.

Economics and happiness - an overview

In this paper I am trying to provide the reader with a brief overview of contemporary discussion about recently frequently mentioned topic of economics and happiness. In the last few years the number of publications related to happiness from the economic perspective growth exponentially. As the importance of this topic seems to grow significantly, I modestly intend to provide Czech public with a very starting reference point for further research in this field. In the first part I sum up the basic terms of subjective well-being and Easterlin paradox and give an overview of the most striking empirical observations. The second part shortly describes approach to the happiness problem of selected key historical personalities, namely Aristotle, Smith and Genovesi. In the third part I outline present key challenge for the economic theory - tackling with the reciprocity phenomenon.

Keywords: reciprocity, happiness, Easterlin paradox, Anthonio Genovesi, history of economic thought
JEL classification: A11, B19, B59, D64

Published: April 1, 2009  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Štika, P. (2009). Economics and happiness - an overview. Politická ekonomie57(2), 250-262. doi: 10.18267/j.polek.684
Download citation

References

  1. AXELROD, R. 1987. The Evolution of Strategies in the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma. In LAWRENCE, D. (Ed.). Genetic Algorithms and Simulated Annealing. London : Pitman, 1987, s. 32 - 41. Dostupný na: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~axe/. ISBN 978-0273087717
  2. BECKER, G. 1974. A Theory of Social Interactions. Journal of Political Economy. December 1974, vol. 82, s. 1063-1093. ISSN 1558-0970 Go to original source...
  3. BECKER, G. 1996. Accounting for Tastes. Cambridge : Harward University Press, 1996. ISBN 978-0674543560 Go to original source...
  4. BECKER, G.; RAYO, L. 2007. Habits, Peers, and Happiness: An Evolutionary Perspective. American Economic Review. May 2007, vol. 97, s. 487-491. ISSN 0002-8282. Go to original source...
  5. BRICKMAN, P.; CAMPBELL, D. 1971. Hedonic relativism and planning the good society. In APLEY, M. (Ed.). Adaptation-level theory: A symposium. S. 287-301. New York : Academic Press. 1971. ISBN 0120592509
  6. BRUNI, L. 2006. Civil Happiness - Economics and human flourishing in historical perspective. New York : Routledge. 2006. ISBN 978-0-415-32628-5 Go to original source...
  7. BRUNI, L. 2007. The 'technology of happiness' and the tradition of economic science. In. BRUNI, L., PORTA, P. (Eds.). Handbook on the Economics of Happiness. Cheltenham, Northampton : Edward Elgar. 2007. ISBN 978-1-84376-826-5 Go to original source...
  8. DECI, E.; RYAN, R. 1985. The General Causality Orientations Scale: Self-Determination in Personality. J o u r n a l o f R e s e a r c h i n P e r s o n a l i t y. Vo l. 1 9, s. 1 0 9 - 1 3 4. 1 9 8 5. D o s t u p n ý n a : http://www.psych.rochester.edu/SDT/documents/1985_DeciRyan_GCOS.pdf. ISSN 0092-6566.
  9. DI TELLA, R.; MACCULLOCH, R. 2006. Some Use of Happiness Data in Economics. Journal of Economic Perspectives. Winter 2006, vol. 20, s. 25-46. ISSN 1307-1637 Go to original source...
  10. DI TELLA, R.; MACCULLOCH, R.; OSWALD, J. 2001. Preferences over Inflation and Unemployment: Evidence from Surveys of Happiness. American Economic Review, Vol. 91, s. 335-341. ISSN 0002-8282. Go to original source...
  11. DIENER, E.; SUH, E.; LUCAS, R.; SMITH, H. 1999. Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin. Vol. 25, s. 276-302. ISSN 0033-2909. Go to original source...
  12. DUSENBERRY, J. 1949. Income, Saving and the Theory of Consumer Behavior. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1949. ISBN 978-0674447509
  13. EASTERLIN, R. 1974. Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence, in DAVID, P., REDER, M. (Eds.). Nations and Households in Economic Growth: Essays in Honour of Moses Abramowitz. New York : Academic Press, 1974. ISBN 978-0122050503. Go to original source...
  14. EASTERLIN, R. 2005. Building a Better Theory of Well-Being. In BRUNI, L., PORTA, P. (Eds.). Economics & Happiness - Framing the Analysis. New York : Oxford University Press. 2005, s. 29-64. ISBN 978-0-19-928628-7 Go to original source...
  15. FRANK, R. 1999. Luxury Fever: Why Money Fails to Satisfy In An Era of Excess. New York : Free Press, 1999. ISBN 978-0-69-107011-7
  16. FREY, B., STUTZER, A. 2002. Happiness and Economics. Princeton and Oxford : Princeton University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-6-91-06998-0. Go to original source...
  17. HEADEY, B. 2006. Happiness: Revising Set Point Theory and Dynamic Equilibrium Theory to Account for Long Term Change. [Discussion Papers 607]. DIW Berlin. Dostupný na: www.diw.de/deutsch/ produkte/publikationen/diskussionspapiere/docs/papers/dp607.pdf.
  18. KAHNEMAN, D. 2000. Experienced Utility and Objective Happiness: A Moment-Based Approach. In KAHNEMAN, D., TVERSKY, A. (Eds.). Choices, Values and Frames. New York : Cambridge University Press and the Russell Sage Foundation, 2000. ISBN 978-0521627498 Go to original source...
  19. KAHNEMAN, D. 2003. Maps of bounded rationality: A perspective on intuitive judgment and choice. In FRANGSMYR, T. [Nobel Foundation], (Ed.), Les Prix Nobel: The Nobel Prizes 2002 (pp. 449-489). Stockholm : The Nobel Foundation.
  20. KHALIL, E. 2001. Adam Smith and Three Theories of Altruism. Louvain Economic Review. Vol. 67, s. 421-435, ISSN 1782-1495 Go to original source...
  21. KOLM, S. 1994. The Theory of Reciprocity and of the Choice of Economic Systems: An Introduction. Investigaciones Economicas. 1994, vol. 18, s. 67-95. Dostupný na: ftp://ftp.funep.es/InvEcon/paperArchive/Ene1994/v18i1a3.pdf.
  22. LAYARD, R. 2006. Happiness and Public Policy: A Challenge to the Profession. The Economic Journal. March 2006, vol. 116, s. C24-C33. ISSN 0013-0133 Go to original source...
  23. MLČOCH, V. 2005. Ekonomie štěstí: proč méně může být více. [Working Paper No. 94]. IES WP 2005. http://ies.fsv.cuni.cz/sci/publication/show/id/1868/lang/cs.
  24. NUSSBAUM, M. 2005. Mill between Aristotle and Bentham. In BRUNI, L., PORTA, P. (Eds.). Economics & Happiness - Framing the Analysis. New York : Oxford University Press. 2005, s. 170-183. ISBN 978-0-19-928628-7 Go to original source...
  25. SMITH, A. 1759. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Sixth edition. London : A. Millar. 1790. Dostupný na: http://books.google.cz.
  26. STEVENSON, B., WOLFERS, J. 2008. Economic Growth and Subjective Well-Being: Reassessing the Easterlin Paradox. Dostupný na: http://bpp.wharton.upenn.edu/betseys/papers/Happiness.pdf.
  27. ZAMAGNI, S. 1995. (Ed.) The Economics of Altruism. Aldershot : Edward Elgar Publishing. 1995. ISBN 978-1852789534
  28. ZAMAGNI, S. 2005. Happiness and Individualism: A Very Difficult Union. In BRUNI, L., PORTA, P. (Eds.). Economics & Happiness - Framing the Analysis. New York : Oxford University Press. 2005, s. 303-335. ISBN 978-0-19-928628-7 Go to original source...

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.