Disproving the Easterlin Paradox: an updated regression approach
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Economics
Minor
Data Analytics
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Dr. Beau Sauley
Presentation Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Description
Happiness is a complex and abstract emotion. However, it is also a useful Quality of Life metric that can be used to determine how well a country or population is doing. Since the 1970’s, economists have been working on determining a link between a country’s GDP and their respective happiness. Richard Easterlin is widely considered to be the father of happiness economics. He proposes that, while there is correlation in the short run, in the long run, there is no link between GDP and happiness. I ran an updated analysis, investigating the claim that there is no link between GDP and happiness, using up to date data from the World Happiness Report and the World Bank Indicators (Singh 2021, World Bank 2022). The results of my analysis show that there is a statistically significant link between GDP and Happiness in the long run, ceteris paribus.
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Honors College Senior Thesis Presentations
Disproving the Easterlin Paradox: an updated regression approach
Happiness is a complex and abstract emotion. However, it is also a useful Quality of Life metric that can be used to determine how well a country or population is doing. Since the 1970’s, economists have been working on determining a link between a country’s GDP and their respective happiness. Richard Easterlin is widely considered to be the father of happiness economics. He proposes that, while there is correlation in the short run, in the long run, there is no link between GDP and happiness. I ran an updated analysis, investigating the claim that there is no link between GDP and happiness, using up to date data from the World Happiness Report and the World Bank Indicators (Singh 2021, World Bank 2022). The results of my analysis show that there is a statistically significant link between GDP and Happiness in the long run, ceteris paribus.