International evidence on the social context of wellbeing

John Helliwell, Christopher Barrington-Leigh, Anthony Harris, Haifang Huang, 24 April 2010

What accounts for life satisfaction differences across countries? This column presents new findings from the Gallup World Poll of more than 140,000 respondents worldwide. It suggests the happiest nations are those with strong social support from family and friends, freedom in making life choices, and low levels of corruption.

GDP per capita is a crude measure of wellbeing. But does survey data do any better, especially when attempting cross-nation comparisons?

Topics: Frontiers of economic research, Poverty and income inequality
Tags: happiness, social context, wellbeing

Login or register to post comments
Read more
10934 reads

Most Read

The case for 4% inflationBall
Helicopter money as a policy optionReichlin, Turner, Woodford
The banking crisis as a giant carry trade gone wrongAcharya, Steffen
Everything the IMF wanted to know about financial regulation and wasn’t afraid to askBair
Rethinking macroeconomic policy: Getting granularBlanchard, Dell'Ariccia, Mauro

A tale of two depressions: What do the new data tell us? February 2010 updateEichengreen, O’Rourke
Educated in America: College graduates and high school dropoutsHeckman, LaFontaine
Eurozone breakup would trigger the mother of all financial crisesEichengreen
Panic-driven austerity in the Eurozone and its implicationsDe Grauwe, Ji
Debt, deleveraging, and the liquidity trap: A new modelKrugman

Vox Talks

The Battle of Bretton Woods

Steil, 29 April 2013

Listen | Open Player

Vox eBooks

The Future of the World Trading System: Asian Perspectives

Baldwin, Kawai, Wignaraja, 11 June 2013

Don't Miss

EZ banking union with a sovereign virus

Gros

Fiscal implications of the ECB’s bond-buying programme

De Grauwe, Ji

The wisdom of Karlsruhe: The OMT court case should be dismissed

Giavazzi, Portes, Weder di Mauro, Wyplosz

Exit strategies: Time to think ahead

Wyplosz

Escaping liquidity traps: Lessons from the UK’s 1930s escape

Crafts

CEPR Policy Research

The "Greatest" Carry Trade Ever? Understanding Eurozone Bank RisksAcharya, Steffen
Political Credit Cycles: The Case of the Euro ZoneFernández-Villaverde, Garicano, Santos
Winning by Losing: Incentive Incompatibility in Multiple QualifiersDagaev, Sonin
Income and schoolingBrückner, Gradstein
Monetary Policy and Rational Asset Price BubblesGalí