Happiness and Economics

(CIAS001NABB)

Gábor Kovács
Corvinus Institute for Advanced Studies
Business Ethics Center

gabor.kovacs4@uni-corvinus.hu
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 Weekly breakdown

Tuesdays 5:20-6:50 PM (E3004)

1. Introduction to the course, and to the conception of happiness

2. Western and Eastern Concepts of Happiness
3. Economics of Happiness
4. Wellbeing Organizations
5. Positive Psychology, Measuring Happiness and the Happiness Map of Hungary
6. World Happiness Report and the Happy Planet Index
SPRING BREAK
7. Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness
8. Costa Rica (Pura Vida), New Zealand (Wellbeing Budget), and Amsterdam (doughnut economics)
9. Nature as a Source of Happiness and Spiritual Value Orientation
10. Women Leadership
11. Students’ presentations
12. Students’ presentations
13. Students’ presentations
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 Assignments and evaluation

Learning passing %
% Details Deadline / date
activities (60 % each)

Students have to submit several homework during the semester. specific for each
Homework 14 8
Late submissions of a homework results in 0 points considering the given homework. homework

Presentations at
Writing a paper and presenting a case of a selected business or social enterprise which promotes week 11-13
Project work 46 wellbeing in groups of three. Paper requirements (1200-1500 words) are provided in a separate file. 28
Paper submission
Late submission of the project work will result 25% deduction of this part of the grade element. by the end of the
study period
Based on the course’s topics presented during classes, students should write an individual scientific
review paper (800-1000 words) during the semester reviewing at least three scientific journal articles in a Paper submission
Individual pre-selected topic on the field of happiness research.
40 by the end of the 24
paper
Late submission of the individual paper will result 25% deduction of this parts of the grade study period
element.

Total 100 60

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 Western and Eastern Concepts of Happiness

Western and Eastern concepts of happiness

Human flourishing
(eudaimonia) versus
liberation from suffering

Happiness
Wellbeing
Flourishing

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 Economics of Happiness

Basic questions related to GDP and wellbeing

Does money make you happy?
✓ Money does not make you happy beyond 20.000 USD per year (early
2000s)
Does greater happiness go with higher income?
✓ At a point in time both among and within nations, happiness varies directly
with income
Will raising incomes of all increase the happiness of all?
✓ Over time (10+ years), happiness does not increase when a country’s
income increases 5
 Wellbeing Organizations

Socio-ecological wellbeing as an organizing principle

New type of business and social organizations

Human wellbeing creation combined with ecological regeneration

Sized within planetary biophysical boundaries to meet human

needs

Maximization of stakeholders’ wellbeing (happy employees create

real value)
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 Wellbeing Organizations

How would you maximize the utility of $120?

If you would have $120, how would you spend it?

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 Wellbeing Organizations

Calm Heart Foundation (Nyugodt Szív Alapítvány)

Founded by Endre Kukorelly

(2015)

Initiated by a facebook post

„donate who can, let’s rent some
apartments for the homeless”.

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 Wellbeing Organizations

Calm Heart Foundation (Nyugodt Szív Alapítvány)

✓ Promoting wellbeing
importance of prevention - help when the life situation is reversible, before get caught in a
vicious spiral. The story of many homeless people starts that they should have saved $100-
$200, but they fail because the basic necessities of life tie up all financial resources

✓ Market or social segment, and competitors

social support, not competitors, but collaborators

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 Wellbeing Organizations

Calm Heart Foundation (Nyugodt Szív Alapítvány)

✓ Cost structure and how it covers costs
voluntary workers, micro donations, extreme transparency (meanwhile providing anonymity)

✓ Value chain
decision-making body distributes financial aid (oversee by the board of trustees)

✓ Stakeholder relationships
close collaboration with „suppliers”, mentoring program for participants

✓ Strategy to ensure its development

giving social visibility and awareness
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 Wellbeing Organizations

Vera, a single mother of five, turned to Calm Heart. Several of the

children have serious, long-lasting illnesses (asthma, kidney stones,
autoimmune diseases). To quote from Vera's letter, "This means that
every 2 weeks at the most, one of them or me is sick, which is why I
have lost 3 jobs so far this year. I am raising the children alone. I can't
pay the rent on my child benefit, so I have to move out. I have not a
penny left to live on. Luckily, we got a promise from the local maternity
home that I can move in next week." Moving out meant the family
needed to keep their belongings safe.

Calm Heart contributed $120 (40 000 forint) to the storage rental.
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 Wellbeing Organizations

Erika, a young pregnant woman was living with her mother, stepfather
and two younger siblings. Erika is currently studying and plans to
continue her studies after the baby is born. Her stepfather won't let
her stay in the apartment after the baby is born, so they have to look
for a sublet. The baby will not be released from the hospital unless
Erika can show a sublet where the baby will be allowed to go home.
The grandmother can help her to pay the rent later, but she will have
to find a job.

Calm Heart helped with the deposit, so they were able to rent a
room, and gave a grant of $120 (40 000 forint).
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 Positive Psychology

Positive Psychology
Since the early 2000’s

Positive psychology to improve quality of life:

✓ positive subjective experiences (contentment, optimism, flow)
✓ positive individual traits (vocation, interpersonal skill, future mindedness,
spirituality, wisdom)
✓ positive institutions (responsibility, altruism, moderation, work ethic)

Positive psychology is about what makes life worth living – factors that allow
individuals, communities, and societies to flourish
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 Positive Psychology

What is your hobby? What do you feel while

you are doing your hobby?

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 Positive Psychology

Flow

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi:

A state of effortless concentration so

deep that I lose the sense of time, of
myself, of my problems

An optimal (healing) experience

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 Positive Psychology

Csikszentmihalyi (1990, p. 74).

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 Positive Psychology

Positive Psychology
Martin Seligman:

Three hierarchical components of happiness

Satisfaction (virtues for gratification) – good life

Positive emotions (pleasure) – pleasant life

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 Positive Psychology

Happiness to me is a broad and a very diverse spectrum of emotions. I derive

happiness or contentment from the happiness of those around me, from achieving the
goals I set for myself, from my hobbies and interests and perhaps overcoming
challenges. It's interesting to think that two of the happiest moments in my teenage
years resulted from my favorite football team winning the champions league and
when I secured a scholarship to an exchange semester in the US. In addition, seeing
the joy on my parents' face when I told them I got the scholarship is also a very
cherishable moment. In recent years, I have been traveling a lot and the joy of
exploring new things is very distinct. I believe true happiness truly lies in learning and
growing from the lessons of the sadder times. It helps to know what you can and
cannot control in life and do something about the problems that one can actually try to
fix what we actually can. There is also a guilty pleasure involved in this scenario.
When the things I can't control lead to unpleasant situations, a shot of tequila is within
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a moment's reach.
 Positive Psychology

In my opinion, happiness is a joyful emotion, a good feeling, or a positive, fully satisfied,

happy status of our mental health. It is like euphoria, when our soul is just constantly
“smiling”. Typically, happiness is an emotional state characterized by feelings of joy,
satisfaction, contentment, and fulfillment.
This status can be influenced by various factors such as personal relationships,
accomplishments, experiences, and fulfillment of desires or goals. For some, happiness
may be found in moments of joy and excitement, while for others, it may come from a
deeper sense of peace and meaning in life.
Happiness can be reached in the most effective way if we focus on the things and
activities that make us happy and pleasant emotions. But obviously, not everyone likes
the same things because we are different, so it depends on our characteristics and
personality what exactly means happy and joyful one and other. Ultimately, happiness is
a deeply individual experience shaped by one's values, beliefs, and life circumstances.
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 Positive Psychology

Positive Psychology
Martin Seligman:

Three hierarchical components of happiness

Satisfaction (virtues for gratification) – good life

Positive emotions (pleasure) – pleasant life
Meaning (having life goal) – meaningful life

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 Positive Psychology

Happiness can be very subjective to individuals depending on their beliefs, goals,

aspirations, lifestyle and personal views on life. Happiness can come in different
forms to me ranging from a good academic result to having a heartwarming chat
with an old friend. I associate happiness with things that give me a sense of
fulfillment and at the same time help me relieve stress and unwind. I would not
consider myself a materialistic pleasure-seeking person, so I prefer having a
meaningful conversation about something that I care about with someone whose
company I enjoy at my favorite café over a simple shopping spree. But I am not
saying that the latter does not have the power to make someone happy, I would
just prefer otherwise. Happiness to me comes in the form of experiences rather
than in definitive objects or materials, which probably is true for most people.
Moments of bliss and unfiltered joy be that experienced alone or in the presence
of a loved one, if meaningful and pure can bring me happiness. 21
Measuring Happiness

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 Measuring Happiness

Calculating and measuring wellbeing

Standardized measurement tools (measuring all three dimensions)

Subjective well-being is a more scientific term for happiness

The difference between momentary experiences of happiness and

long-lasting well-being

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 Measuring Happiness

Measuring subjective wellbeing – life satisfaction

The following question asks how satisfied you feel, on a scale from 0 to 10.
Zero means you feel “not at all satisfied” and 10 means you feel “completely
satisfied”.
Overall, how satisfied are you with life as a whole these days? [0-10]

On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at
this time? [0-10]

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 Measuring Happiness

Measuring subjective wellbeing – emotions

The following question asks about how you felt yesterday on a scale from 0 to
10. Zero means you did not experience the feeling “at all” yesterday while 10
means you experienced the feeling “all of the time” yesterday.

How about happy? [0-10]

How about worried? [0-10]
How about depressed? [0-10]

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 Measuring Happiness

Measuring subjective wellbeing – meaning

The following question asks how worthwhile you feel the things you do in your
life are, on a scale from 0 to10. Zero means you feel the things you do in your
life are “not at all worthwhile”, and 10 means “completely worthwhile”.

Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are
worthwhile? [0-10]

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 Measuring Happiness

Measuring subjective wellbeing – based on 24 responses

Overall, how satisfied are you with life as a whole these days? [0-10] 6.2

Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile? [0-10] 6.8

The following questions ask about how you felt yesterday.

How about happy? [0-10] 5.5
How about worried? [0-10] 4.5
How about depressed? [0-10] 3.7

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 Happiness Map of Hungary

Happiness Map of Hungary

Attila Olah:

Positive Psychology Research Group

2016-2022

Online survey for people over 14

Geographical overview of happiness in Hungary

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Happiness Map of Hungary

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Happiness Map of Hungary

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Happiness Map of Hungary

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Happiness Map of Hungary

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Happiness Map of Hungary

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 Positive Psychology, Measuring Happiness and the Happiness Map of
Hungary

Before the spring break

✓ Groups

✓ Presentation topic

✓ Presentation week

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 Positive Psychology, Measuring Happiness and the Happiness Map of
Hungary

Homework 4.

Alternative measures of wellbeing (happiness)?

Search for alternative measures of wellbeing (e. g., Happy Planet Index,
OECD Better Life Index, Human Development Index, Genuine Progress
Indicator, etc.). Choose one of them which you think is the best alternative
way of measuring wellbeing. Justify your choice in a 250 words paragraph:
why do you think your choice is the best alternative measure of wellbeing?

On Moodle: 03/12/2024 7PM – 03/17/2024 7PM (SUNDAY)

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Thank you
for your attention!

gabor.kovacs4@uni-corvinus.hu
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