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Happiness at work

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  • Jan-Emmanuel De Neve
  • George Ward

Abstract

Happiness is typically defined by how people experience and evaluate their lives as a whole. Since the majority of people spend much of their lives at work, it is critically important to gain a solid understanding of the role that employment and the workplace play in shaping happiness for individuals and communities around the world. In this paper, we focus largely on the role of work and employment in shaping people's happiness, and investigate how employment status, job type, and workplace characteristics relate to measures of subjective wellbeing.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan-Emmanuel De Neve & George Ward, 2017. "Happiness at work," CEP Discussion Papers dp1474, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1474
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Wijngaards, Indy & Hendriks, Martijn & Burger, Martijn J., 2019. "Steering towards happiness: An experience sampling study on the determinants of happiness of truck drivers," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 131-148.
    2. Erman Çakıt & Waldemar Karwowski & Tadeusz Marek & Magdalena Jaworek & Grzegorz Wrobel, 2020. "A Cross-Sectional Study of the Relationships between Work-Related Affective Feelings Expressed by Workers in Turkey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Rose, Damaris & Stavrova, Olga, 2019. "Does life satisfaction predict reemployment? Evidence form German panel data," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1-11.
    4. Bellet, Clément S. & De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel & Ward, George, 2019. "Does employee happiness have an impact on productivity?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103428, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Binder, Martin & Blankenberg, Ann-Kathrin, 2021. "Self-employment and subjective well-being," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 411, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    6. Santiago Lago-Peñas & Elena Rivo-López & Alberto Vaquero-García & Mónica Villanueva-Villar, 2018. "Do family firms contribute to job stability? Evidence from the great recession," Working Papers. Collection C: Family business 1801, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    7. Retno Dwiyanti & Elfrida Khoerunnisa, 2021. "Job Satisfaction, Spirituality, And Happiness Of The Employee Of Correctional Institution," Social Values & Society (SVS), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 3(1), pages 40-43, August.
    8. Clark, Andrew E. & Kozák, Michal, 2023. "Twenty Years of Job Quality in OECD Countries: More Good News?," IZA Discussion Papers 16597, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Felix R. FitzRoy & Michael A. Nolan, 2020. "Education, income and happiness: panel evidence for the UK," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 2573-2592, May.
    10. FitzRoy, Felix & Nolan, Michael A., 2020. "Towards Economic Democracy and Social Justice: Profit Sharing, Co-Determination, and Employee Ownership," IZA Discussion Papers 13238, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. C. P. Barrington-Leigh & Katja Lemermeyer, 2023. "A Public, Open, and Independently-Curated Database of Happiness Coefficients," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1505-1531, April.
    12. Nikolova, Milena, 2018. "Self-Employment Can Be Good for Your Health," GLO Discussion Paper Series 226, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    13. Sebastjan Škerlič & Vanja Erčulj, 2021. "The Impact of Financial and Non-Financial Work Incentives on the Safety Behavior of Heavy Truck Drivers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-14, March.
    14. Mikael Nordenmark & Bodil J. Landstad & Åsa Tjulin & Stig Vinberg, 2023. "Life Satisfaction among Self-Employed People in Different Welfare Regimes during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Significance of Household Finances and Concerns about Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-13, March.
    15. Noel Semple, 2021. "Good Enough for Government Work? Life-Evaluation and Public Policy," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1119-1140, March.
    16. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve & Christian Krekel & George Ward, 2019. "Employee wellbeing, productivity and firm performance," CEP Discussion Papers dp1605, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    17. Beja, Edsel Jr., 2016. "Subjective Well-Being Approach to Valuing Unemployment: Direct and Indirect Cost," MPRA Paper 101080, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    subjective wellbeing; employment; job type; job characteristics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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