Title: Well-being, social capital, and public policy
Description: "This paper summarizes recent empirical research on the determinants of subjective well-being.  Results from national and international samples suggest that measures of social capital, including especially the corollary measures of specific and general trust, have substantial effects on well-being beyond those flowing through economic channels.  Cross-national samples (supported by parallel analysis of suicide data) show large well-being effects from social capital and from the quality of government.  Finally, Canadian life-satisfaction data show that several non-financial job characteristics, and especially the climate of workplace trust, have very large income-equivalent effects"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Subjects: Happiness, Social capital (Sociology), Public welfare