Approaches to Well-Being, Use of Psychology and Paternalism in Economics

Abstract

This paper discusses three approaches in economics which take a position on the definition of well-being and which use insights from psychology to support their positions: Scitovsky's Joyless Economy, happiness economics, and the constitutional approach to happiness in economics. The paper shows first that the definition of well-being by each approach, which is a normative step, is revealed by the choice of a psychological theory or method rather than resulting from the application of a theory or method. Secondly, this paper demonstrates that personal judgement by the authors is often needed in the positive realm, in order to interpret psychological results and to then translate them into practical recommendations. Both of these issues have implications for those theories that define well-being as something other than the fulfillment of individual preferences whatever their content, and which therefore yield a potential justification for paternalism. This paper argues that the potential paternalistic implications of these approaches are not based on positive science only, but rely on normative choice and personal judgement.

At the origin of the notion of ‘creative' goods in economics: Scitovsky and Hawtrey

“…These changes are taken as examples of the transitional nature of society -in relation to the problem of pursuing and developing the good life -at the time the revised edition was published. 32 The question of paternalism in Scitovsky's analysis is still open to discussion: see, e.g., Sugden 2013, Collewet 2014, Bianchi 2003, 2015. We note here that notions of paternalism may differ according to alternative analytical approaches (i.e.…”

Enjoyment Takes Time: Some Implications for Choice Theory

“…20 Moreover, the costbenefit approach proposed here requires 'simply' that individuals take their decisions trying to distinguish what will prove pleasant from what will prove unpleasant to them in a non-ergodic environment, without the need to resort to any assumption about Rocky Mountains-type of preferences. The flow of time lowers, according to (13), the overall rates of return; repetitive life can be pleasantly _________________________ 19 For a discussion of paternalism in behavioral economics, see Collewet (2014). restful, to a certain extent, but it generates boredom, which individuals tend to fight by introducing 'changes', small though they might be, in their weekly plan.…”