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Approaches to well-being, use of psychology and paternalism in economics

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  • Collewet, Marion

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.

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  • Collewet, Marion, 2014. "Approaches to well-being, use of psychology and paternalism in economics," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 8, pages 1-25.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifweej:201432
    DOI: 10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2014-32
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    Cited by:

    1. Nisticò, Sergio, 2015. "Enjoyment takes time: Some implications for choice theory," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 9, pages 1-40.
    2. Antonio Bariletti & Eleonora Sanfilippo, 2015. "At the origin of the notion of “creative goods” in economics: Scitovsky and Hawtrey," Working Papers 2015-02, Universita' di Cassino, Dipartimento di Economia e Giurisprudenza.
    3. Antonio Bariletti & Eleonora Sanfilippo, 2017. "At the origin of the notion of ?creative? goods in economics: Scitovsky and Hawtrey," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(1), pages 5-34.
    4. Leonardo Becchetti & Chiara Lubicz, 2023. "Scitovsky Was Right…and There Is More: Comfort Goods, Stimulus Goods, Education and Subjective Wellbeing," CEIS Research Paper 565, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 31 Jul 2023.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    paternalism; well-being; Scitovsky; happiness economics; constitutional approach;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • B21 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Microeconomics

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