TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Stevenson, Betsey
AU  - Wolfers, Justin
        TI  - Economic Growth and Subjective Well-Being: Reassessing the Easterlin Paradox
        PY  - 2008/Aug/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 3654
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp3654
        AB  - The “Easterlin paradox” suggests that there is no link between a society’s economic development and its average level of happiness. We re-assess this paradox analyzing multiple rich datasets spanning many decades. Using recent data on a broader array of countries, we establish a clear positive link between average levels of subjective well-being and GDP per capita across countries, and find no evidence of a satiation point beyond which wealthier countries have no further increases in subjective well-being. We show that the estimated relationship is consistent across many datasets and is similar to the relationship between subject well-being and income observed within countries. Finally, examining the relationship between changes in subjective well-being and income over time within countries we find economic growth associated with rising happiness. Together these findings indicate a clear role for absolute income and a more limited role for relative income comparisons in determining happiness.
        KW  - subjective well-being
KW  - Easterlin Paradox
KW  - life satisfaction
KW  - economic growth
KW  - well-being-income gradient
KW  - happiness
KW  - hedonic treadmill
        ER  -