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Measuring Happiness and Making Policy

Gert G. Wagner

OECD Global Project - Measuring the Progress of Societies, Istanbul, June 27-30, 207

Making Policy

– Good policy actions require causal inference– Cross-sectional studies do not allow to draw causal inference

– Natural experiments are rare– Longitudinal studies are rare too

Longitudinal Studies

– Longitudinal studies which contain variables about subjective well-being

– BHPS– German SOEP– ECHP– e. g. Andrew Clark, Paul Frijters and Michael Shields, Relative Income, Happiness and Utility, IZA Discussion Paper No. 2840, Bonn

Evidence Based Policy Actions

Basis: negative impact on satisfaction with life in general after occurence of unemployment, disability and commuting

– Fighting unemployment– Information campaign about commuting– Better saftey regulations (e. g. at workplace)