1248Abstract. Economic development and culture are important factors affecting happiness. The paper discusses the impact of economic and cultural factors on the cross-country differences in happiness levels. Various approaches to international ratings of happiness appeared recently. The author focuses on the Better Life Index, the Happy Planet Index, and the Ranking of Happiness from the World Happiness Report while analyzing the effect of ecological consequences of economic development, relative income, economic growth, and level of inequality in society on the estimates of happiness. The author agrees with those economists who believe that cultural values play the most important and stable role in cross-country differences in life satisfaction. It is shown how various cultural factors differ in their effects on happiness. It is stressed that people in an individualist culture have higher levels of subjective well-being than those in a collectivist culture. Special attention is paid to East-Asian happiness gap and its reasons, including racing for money, excessive competitiveness, conformity, concentration on unpleasant emotions, and emphasis on outward appearance. Basing on the economics of happiness statements, the author suggests the economic policy measures for increasing subjective well-being. Despite the existing problems in economic growth in less developed countries strengthening democracy and raising gender equality are important for happiness in all over the world. Also, the author shares the ideas of libertarian paternalism about the welfare-improving influence on the human preferences through more public spending in such areas as infrastructure, environment, education, research, and public health. Public spending in these areas may be generally effective because of rising happiness level despite of its some unavoidable inefficiency.
REFERENCES
1. Acemoglu D., Robinson J.A. Why Nations Fail. The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty. New York, Crown Business, 2012. 529 p.
2. World Values Survey. Available at: http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org (accessed 03.03.2017).
3. Pocket World in Figures. 2017 Edition. The Economist by Profile Books, London, 2016. 255 p.
4. Antipina O.N. Ekonomicheskaya teoriya schast’ya kak napravlenie nauchnykh issledovanii [Economics of Happiness as an Academic Research Discipline]. Voprosy ekonomiki, 2012, no. 2, pp. 94-107.
5. OECD Better Life Index. Available at: http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org (accessed 03.03.2017).
6. Happy Planet Index. Available at: http://happyplanetindex.org (accessed 03.03.2017).
7. Helliwell J., Layard R., Sachs J. World Happiness Report 2016. Available at: http://worldhappiness.report/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/03/HR-V1_web.pdf (accessed 03.03.2017).
8. Easterlin R.A. Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence. Nations and Households in Economic Growth: Essays in Honor of Moses Abramowitz. David P.A., Reder M.W., eds. New York, Academic Press, 1974, pp. 89-125.
9. Easterlin R.A. Happiness and Economic Growth: The Evidence. IZA Discussion Paper, no. 7187, January 2013. 32 p. Available at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp7187.pdf (accessed 03.03.2017).
10. Brockman H., Delhey J., Welzel Ch., Yuan H. The China Puzzle: Falling Happiness in a Rising Economy. Journal of Happiness Studies, 2009, issue 4, pp. 387-405.
11. Alesina A., Di Tella R., MacCulloch R. Inequality and Happiness: Are Europeans and Americans Different? Journal of Public Economics, 2004, vol. 88, pp. 2009-2042. DOI:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2003.07.006
12. Ng Y.-K. The East-Asian Happiness Gap: Speculating on Causes and Implications. Pacific Economic Review, 2002, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 51-63.
13. Hofstede G. Culture’s Consequences, Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations across Nations. Thousand Oaks (CA), Sage Publications, 2001. 616 p.
14. Guiso L., Sapienza P., Zingales L. Does Culture Affect Economic Outcomes? The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2006, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 23-48.
15. Nikishina E.N. Kul’turnyi kapital kak faktor neopredelennosti i transaktsionnykh izderzhek [Cultural Capital as a Factor of Uncertainty and Transaction Costs]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 6. Ekonomika, 2015, no. 5, pp. 3-21. Available at: http://www.econ.msu.ru/sys/raw.php?o=26980&p=attachment (accessed 03.03.2017).
16. House R.J., Hanges P.J., Javidan M., Dorfman P.W. Gupta V., eds. Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies. Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications, 2004. 818 p.
17. Ye D., Ng Y.-K., Lian Y. Culture and Happiness. Social Indicators Research, 2015, vol. 123, issue 2, pp. 519-547. DOI:10.1007/s11205-014-0747-y
18. Inglehart R., Foa R., Peterson C., Welzel C. Development, Freedom, and Rising Happiness: A Global Perspective (1981–2007). Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2008, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 264-285.
19. Myers D. G., Diener E. Who is Happy? Psychological Science, 1995, vol. 6, issue 1, pp. 10-19.
20. Lu L., Gilmour R., Kao S-F. Cultural Values and Happiness: An East–West Dialogue. The Journal of Social Psychology, 2001, vol. 141, no. 4, pp. 477-493.
21. Hofstede G. Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. Beverly Hills (CA), Sage Publications, 1980. 328 p.
22. Kahneman D., Deaton A. High Income Improves Evaluation of Life but not Emotional Well-Being. Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, 2010, vol. 107, no. 38, pp. 16489-16493.
23. Clark A.E., Senik C., Yamada K. The Joneses in Japan: Income Comparisons and Financial Satisfaction. The Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University Discussion Paper, no. 866, March 2013. 28 p.
24. Ivoilova I. Zolotoi schet [Golden Score]. Rossiiskaya gazeta, Federal’nyi vypusk no. 7024 (156), 15.07.2016. Available at: https://rg.ru/2016/07/15/shkolniki-iz-rf-stali-pobediteliami-mezhdunarodnoj-matematicheskoj-olimpiady.html (accessed 03.03.2017).
25. Frey B. S., Stutzer A. Happiness, Economy and Institutions. Economic Journal, 2000, vol. 110, issue 466, pp. 918-938. DOI:10.1111/1468-0297.00570
26. Ng Y.-K. Economic Policies in the Light of Happiness Studies with Reference to Singapore. Singapore Economic Review, 2002, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 199-212.
Registered in System SCIENCE INDEX
No comments