Happiness Around the World: The Paradox of Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires
"Offers a welcome, thought-provoking, and engaging snapshot of this emerging field."--Science"A comprehensive synthesis of research on determinants of happiness.... It is time that sociologists join economists in pursuit of answers to the question, 'what makes us happy?'"--Contemporary Sociology"In the past decade there has emerged a substantial literature on the economics of happiness. What makes people happy--earnings, health, the economic environment, the political system, neighbors, family? And what effect does happiness have on earnings, health, and the political system? A prodigious contributor to that literature is Dr. Carol Graham, who has now assembled a masterful review of the subject."--Thomas Schelling, Nobel Laureate in Economics 2005, Distinguished University Professor, Emeritus, University of Maryland"Most of us could not imagine what it would be like to live in Afghanistan. But Afghans are happier, at least by a little bit, than the average for the world as a whole. They, like people everywhere, are tremendously adaptable, and manage to smile even through the worst of it. Money may make some difference, but it is not everything. Carol Graham, in this well-written volume, describes what makes people happy, and what makes them sad, and shows what the new economics of happiness means for economic and social policy."--George Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics, Koshland Professor of Economics, University of California at Berkeley"This is a wide-ranging and thoughtful survey of what makes people happy, including fascinating original research and important and provocative conclusions."--Professor Lord Richard Layard, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics