@TechReport{iza:izadps:dp8300, author={Proto, Eugenio and Oswald, Andrew J.}, title={National Happiness and Genetic Distance: A Cautious Exploration}, year={2014}, month={Jul}, institution={Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)}, address={Bonn}, type={IZA Discussion Paper}, number={8300}, url={https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp8300}, abstract={This paper examines a famous puzzle in social science. Why do some nations report such high happiness? Denmark, for instance, regularly tops the league table of rich nations' well-being; Great Britain and the US enter further down; France and Italy do relatively poorly. Yet the explanation for this ranking – one that holds even after adjustment for GDP and socio-economic and cultural variables – remains unknown. We explore a new avenue. Using data on 131 countries, we document a range of evidence consistent with the hypothesis that certain nations may have a genetic advantage in well-being.}, keywords={genes;well-being;international;happiness;GDP}, }