International Conference

Is happiness measurable and what do those measures mean for policy?

Rome, 2-3 April 2007
University of Rome “Tor Vergata”

Conference background

Recent advances in the study of happiness and life satisfaction have opened new perspectives. We are, it seems, much closer to measuring how happy people are, as well as understanding more clearly other aspects of their subjective well-being. These advances, so some would argue, open the door to different paradigms for policy-making: paradigms, for instance, which see people’s happiness, rather than national income, as the goal that policy-makers seek to maximise. But while these ideas have generated much interest, and gathered considerable support, many sceptics remain.

Topics

This conference will provide a platform to debate these issues. Presentations and papers will follow three broad topics:

1. Methodological issues in the measurement of happiness and life satisfaction: Can we construct meaningful statistical indicators of happiness and life satisfaction? Is it useful to think of life happiness as some overarching uni-dimensional concept; or is it better to think separately about how happy people are with their work, their relationships, and so on?
2. The determinants of happiness: What do we know about the factors determining happiness and what don’t we know? How do education and other areas of government policy contribute to happiness?
3. Measures of happiness and policy: Can subjective well-being indicators help shape policy? And what does satisfaction with different domains of life imply for policy-making?

Draft agenda

Presentations

• Leonardo Becchetti (CEIS, University of Tor Vegata) – The Effects of Age and Job Protection on the Welfare Costs of Inflation and Unemployment: a Source of ECB anti-inflation bias?
• Claudia Biancotti (Bank of Italy) – Inequality and Happiness
• Tito Boeri (University of Milan-Bocconi)
• Marcel Canoy (European Commission, BEPA) – Well-being and Policy Making
• Andrew Clark  (Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques) – Work, Jobs and Well-Being Across the Millennium
• Ed Diener  (University of Illinois) – Happiness accounts for policy use
• Paul Dolan (Imperial College London) – Cost-happiness Analysis: A New and Improved Form of Economic Appraisal?
• Bruno Frey (University of Zurich) – Should National Happiness be Maximized?
• Alex Michalos (University of Northern British Columbia) – Education, Happiness and Well-Being
• Alois Stutzer (University of Basel) – Work and Well-Being : Insights from Happiness Research
• Ruut Veenhoven (Erasmus University Rotterdam) – Measures of Gross National Happiness

Conclusions of the Happiness Conference:

• Is happiness measurable and what do those measures mean for Policy? Rome 2-3 April 2007

Organisers

The conference will be jointly organised by the OECD, the Bank of Italy, the Centre for Economic and International Studies (CEIS) of the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission.

The members of the scientific committee are:

• Luigi Paganetto (Dean, Faculty of Economics, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”)
• Leonardo Becchetti (Faculty of Economics, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”)
• Enrico Giovannini (Chief Statistician, OECD)
• Giovanni D’Alessio (Head of the Sample Surveys and Statistical Methods Division, Bank of Italy)
• Andrea Saltelli (Joint Research Centre, European Commission)

Other background documents

• Anand Paul (Open University) – The Measurement of Capabilities
• Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) – Beyond GDP Conference
• Le Roy Pierre (GLOBECO) – L’indice du bonheur mondial : pourquoi? comment? (paper in French)
• Van Hoorn Andre – Introduction to Subjective Well-Being