Promoting subjective well-being is not only desirable per se, but it is conducive to higher productivity and improved countries’ economic performances

Happiness Matters: Productivity Gains from Subjective Well-Being. Charles Henri DiMaria, Chiara Peroni, Francesco Sarracino. Journal of Happiness Studies, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-019-00074-1

Abstract: This article studies the link between subjective well-being and productivity at the aggregate level, using a matched dataset from surveys and official statistics. Well-being and productivity are measured, respectively, by life satisfaction and total factor productivity. The analysis, which applies non-parametric frontier techniques in a production framework, finds that life satisfaction generates significant productivity gains in a sample of 20 European countries. These results confirm the evidence of a positive association between the variables of interest found at the individual and firm level, and support the view that promoting subjective well-being is not only desirable per se, but it is conducive to higher productivity and improved countries’ economic performances.

Keywords: Productivity Subjective well-being Total factor productivity Efficiency Life satisfaction Economic growth DEA Combined data