Income and Output: Their Relation to Happiness: Difference between revisions

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==Introduction ==
<p align="center"> Jason Keely, Ryne Cantwell, Jason Foltin</p>


== Introduction ==


All people have experienced various emotions such as anger, saddness, and happiness.  In general it is the consenus that the majority of people would like to exprience greater happiness throughout their lives.  This raises the question of how can this be done.  Recently, Economists have been researching links of GNP (wealth of certain nations) and income to how it effects a citizens happiness. The main questions we will be trying to answer today are:  '''Does greater wealth mean greater happiness?''' & '''Why at any point in time people with higher incomes are happier than low income citizens, but over a life cycle as income rises happiness stays relatively constant?'''  These questions will be answered following the work of various economists whose ideas lie on both sides of the argument.
<p align="center"> [[Image:Pic_1.JPG|thumb|Description]] </p>
<big>What is happiness?</big>
"By happiness I mean feeling good – enjoying life and feeling it is wonderful. And by unhappiness I mean feeling bad and wishing things were different. There are countless sources of happiness, and countless sources of pain and misery. But all our experience has in it a dimension which corresponds to how good or bad we feel. In fact most people find it easy to say how good they are feeling. A standard question is “Taken all together, how would you say things are these days: would you say you are very happy, pretty happy or not too happy?” Such a question gets 99% response rates – much higher than the average response rates in questionnaires."  -Richard Layard


All people have experienced various emotions such as anger, saddness, and happiness.  In general it is the consenus that the majority of people would like to exprience greater happiness throughout their lives.  This raises the question of how can this be done.  Recently, Economists have been researching links of GNP (wealth of certain nations) and income to how it effects a citizens happiness. The main questions we will be trying to answer today are:  '''Do wealthier nations experience greater happiness within their citizen body?''' & '''Does income affect the level of happiness people experience?'''  These questions will be answered following the work of various economists whose ideas lie on both sides of the argument.


<p align="center"> [[Image:Pic_1.JPG|thumb|Description]] </p>
[http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/faculty/oswald/happecperf.pdf Happiness Survey Page 10/11]


== Income and Happiness ==
== Income and Happiness ==
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<p align="right"> much researchers make?                    </p>
<p align="right"> much researchers make?                    </p>


== Postive Correlation of Output and Happiness ==
== Correlations between Output and Happiness ==
 


Macroeconomic movements have strong effects on the happiness of nations.  Movements in well-being seem to be correlated with changes in gross domestic product (GDP). “However, this only holds true after controlling for personal characteristics of respondents, country fixed effects, and country-specific time trends” (TMOH, 1).
[[Happiness in Countries: Does Greater Wealth Equal Happiness]] <p align="right">[[Image:Front_page_pic.JPG|thumb|Description]]</p>
So does a higher GDP have permanent effects on a nation’s happiness?  GDP does help buy extra happiness. But other factors have been forming throughout the years that have gradually offset the benefits of extra real income. To make this correlation easier to find we used the ‘GDP in a happiness Regressions’ equation, provided in the essay, The Macroeconomics of Happiness.”
<p align="right">Richard Layard, "Happiness: Has Social Science a Clue. Lionel Robbins Memorial Lectures 2002-2003.)</p>
The equation is as follows:


<p align="center">   
== What Can be Done to Raise Happiness ==
HAPPYjit: well-being level reported by an individual ‘j’ in country ‘i’ in the year ‘t’
GDPit: Gross Domestic Product per capita in that country
PERSONALjit: Personal characteristics of respondents (income, marital status, education, employed/unemployed, age)


== No Correlation Between Output and Happiness ==


<nowiki>:</nowiki>
[[Polices for Increasing Happiness]]


[[Other Reasons for Happiness: Employment]]
<p align="center">[[Image:Front_of_title_page.JPG|thumb|Description]]</p>

Latest revision as of 18:52, 27 April 2006

Introduction

Jason Keely, Ryne Cantwell, Jason Foltin


All people have experienced various emotions such as anger, saddness, and happiness. In general it is the consenus that the majority of people would like to exprience greater happiness throughout their lives. This raises the question of how can this be done. Recently, Economists have been researching links of GNP (wealth of certain nations) and income to how it effects a citizens happiness. The main questions we will be trying to answer today are: Does greater wealth mean greater happiness? & Why at any point in time people with higher incomes are happier than low income citizens, but over a life cycle as income rises happiness stays relatively constant? These questions will be answered following the work of various economists whose ideas lie on both sides of the argument.

Description

What is happiness?

"By happiness I mean feeling good – enjoying life and feeling it is wonderful. And by unhappiness I mean feeling bad and wishing things were different. There are countless sources of happiness, and countless sources of pain and misery. But all our experience has in it a dimension which corresponds to how good or bad we feel. In fact most people find it easy to say how good they are feeling. A standard question is “Taken all together, how would you say things are these days: would you say you are very happy, pretty happy or not too happy?” Such a question gets 99% response rates – much higher than the average response rates in questionnaires." -Richard Layard


Happiness Survey Page 10/11

Income and Happiness

Life is a progress from want to want, not from enjoyment to enjoyment

Samuel Jackson, 1776

Income and Happiness: A Unique Paradox

Description

"Researchers say I'm not happier for

being richer but do you know how

much researchers make?

Correlations between Output and Happiness

Happiness in Countries: Does Greater Wealth Equal Happiness

Description

Richard Layard, "Happiness: Has Social Science a Clue. Lionel Robbins Memorial Lectures 2002-2003.)

What Can be Done to Raise Happiness

Polices for Increasing Happiness

Description