The Easterlin paradox is a finding in happiness economics formulated in 1974 by Richard Easterlin, then professor of economics at the University of Pennsylvania, and the first economist to study happiness data.[1] The paradox states that at a point in time happiness varies directly with income both among and within nations, but over time happiness does not trend upward as income continues to grow: while people on higher incomes are typically happier than their lower-income counterparts at a given point in time, higher incomes don't produce greater happiness over time. One explanation is that my happiness depends on a comparison between my income and my perceptions of the average standard of living. If everyone's income increases, my increased income gives a short boost to my happiness, since I do not realize that the average standard of living has gone up. Some time later, I realize that the average standard of living has also gone up, so the happiness boost produced by my increased income disappears. It is the contradiction between the point-of-time and time series findings that is the root of the paradox: while there is a correlation at a fixed point, there is no trend over multiple points. That is, in the short run, everyone perceives increases in income to be correlated with happiness and tries to increase their incomes. However, in the long run, this proves to be an illusion, since everyone's efforts to raise standards of living lead to increasing averages, leaving everyone in the same place in terms of relative income. Various theories have been advanced to explain the Paradox, but the Paradox itself is solely an empirical generalization. The existence of the paradox has been strongly disputed by other researchers.
Richard Easterlin has updated the evidence and description of the Paradox over time. His most recent contribution is from 2022.[2] There is also a free working paper version.[3]
^Easterlin (1974). "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence" (PDF). In Paul A. David; Melvin W. Reder (eds.). Nations and Households in Economic Growth: Essays in Honor of Moses Abramovitz. New York: Academic Press, Inc.
^Easterlin; O'Connor (2022). "The Easterlin Paradox". In Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.). Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Switzerland: Springer Nature. pp. 1–25. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_184-2. ISBN 978-3-319-57365-6.
^Easterlin; O'Connor (2020). "The Easterlin Paradox" (PDF). IZA Discussion Paper Series (13923).
The Easterlinparadox is a finding in happiness economics formulated in 1974 by Richard Easterlin, then professor of economics at the University of Pennsylvania...
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2010. "Economic Growth and Subjective Well-Being: Reassessing the EasterlinParadox" (PDF). bpp.wharton.upenn.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on...
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analysis of the EasterlinParadox. A solid concept of relational goods was built in the following years in an attempt to reconcile this paradox, and to answer...
(1992) "Economic Growth and Subjective Well-Being: Reassessing the EasterlinParadox" 2008 (discussant) Robert Solow (1987) "Deciphering the fall and rise...
American Journal of Human Biology. 20 (6): 742–743. doi:10.1002/ajhb.20831. Easterlin, Nancy (April 2009). "Literature, Science, and the New Humanities (review)"...
literature and culture. Frederick Luis Aldama, Mary Thomas Crane, Nancy Easterlin, William Flesch, David Herman, Suzanne Keen, Patrick Colm Hogan, Alan...
market crisis". Decyzje. 10 (20): 5–20. doi:10.7206/DEC.1733-0092.9. Easterlin, Richard A. "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot?", in Abramovitz...
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