Adaptation and the Easterlin Paradox

Abstract

The Easterlin paradox has captured a great deal of attention across social science. The fundamental question behind this paradox is whether income is associated with subjective well-being, where the latter is often measured by single-item questions on happiness or life satisfaction. The broad consensus that has been reached is that, within country, richer people are on average happier than poorer people, and that richer countries are on general happier than poorer countries. As such, the cross-section relationship between income and subjective well-being is positive.