Economics and happiness : framing the analysis /

This excellent collection focuses on the difficult issue of analytical frameworks used in constructing the relation between human happiness and economic activity and outcomes. Contributors include Richard Easterlin, Robert Frank, Bruno Frey, Robert Sugden, Martha Nussbaum, Oded Stark, Charlotte Phelps, Stefano Zamagni, and Luigi Pasinetti. Essay topics range from the history of economic thought to econometric studies of the paradoxes of happiness; from the relation between economic analysis and political theory to empirical study of human caring; and from studies of happiness in the context of various hardships to the problem of one's relative standing in a social group versus one's absolute income. While such variety can be problematic for collected works, the consistent quality of these essays makes this a rich compendium of approaches to the economic study of human happiness. The volume's variety also required the authors to address themselves to an audience outside the narrow boundaries of their own specialties, which makes the volume useful for a wide range of academic readers. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All academic audiences. R. B. Emmett James Madison College, Michigan State University