Happiness Research and Cost-Benefit Analysis

Authors

Matthew D. Adler, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law SchoolFollow
Eric Posner, University of ChicagoFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-2008

Abstract

A growing body of research on happiness or subjective well-being shows, among other things, that people adapt to many injuries more rapidly than is commonly thought, fail to predict the degree of adaptation and hence overestimate the impact of those injuries on their well-being, and, similarly, enjoy small or moderate rather than significant changes in well-being in response to significant changes in income. Some researchers believe that these findings pose a challenge to cost-benefit analysis, and argue that project evaluation decision-procedures based on economic premises should be replaced with procedures that directly maximize subjective well-being. This view turns out to be wrong or, at best, premature. Cost-benefit analysis remains a viable decision-procedure. However, some of the findings in the happiness literature can be used to generate valuations for cost-benefit analysis where current approaches have proven inadequate.

Keywords

happiness, subjective well-being, SWB, CBA

Publication Title

Journal of Legal Studies

Publication Citation

37 J. Legal Stud. S253 (2008)

Repository Citation

Adler, Matthew D. and Posner, Eric, "Happiness Research and Cost-Benefit Analysis" (2008). All Faculty Scholarship. 161.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/161