Wellbeing
Science and Policy

An important new book that uses quantitative evidence to analyse the causes of subjective wellbeing.

Richard Layard (Author), Jan-Emmanuel De Neve (Author)

9781009298940, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 March 2023

350 pages
24.2 x 16.8 x 2 cm, 0.61 kg

'Fills a fundamental need.' Robert Schiller, Nobel laureate

What produces a happy society and a happy life? Thanks to the new science of wellbeing, we can now answer this question using state-of-the-art empirical evidence. This transforms our ability to base our decisions on the outcomes that matter most, namely the wellbeing of us all including future generations. Written by two of the world's leading experts on the economics of wellbeing, this book shows how wellbeing can be measured, what causes it and how it can be improved. Its findings are profoundly relevant to all social sciences, including psychology, economics, politics, behavioural science and sociology. A field-defining text on a new science that aims to span the whole of human life, this will be an invaluable resource for undergraduate and graduate students, policy-makers and employers, who can apply its insights in their professional and private lives. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Part I. The Case for Wellbeing: 1. What subjective wellbeing is and why it matters
2. Wellbeing as the goal for society
Part II. Human Nature and Wellbeing: 3. How our behaviour affects our wellbeing
4. How our thoughts affect our wellbeing
5. Our bodies, our genes and our wellbeing
Part III. How Our Experience Affects Our Wellbeing: 6. The inequality of wellbeing: some basic facts
7. Tools to explain wellbeing
8. Explaining wellbeing: a first exploration
9. Family, schooling and social media
10. Health and healthcare
11. Unemployment
12. The quality of work
13. Income
14. Community
15. The physical environment and the planet
Part IV. Government and Wellbeing: 16. How government affects wellbeing
17. How wellbeing affects voting
18. Cost effectiveness and policy choice.

Subject Areas: Microeconomics [KCC]