National Happiness and Genetic Distance: A Cautious Exploration

63 Pages Posted: 22 Jan 2016

See all articles by Eugenio Proto

Eugenio Proto

University of Glasgow; IZA Institute of Labor Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Andrew J. Oswald

University of Warwick - Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 28, 2015

Abstract

This paper studies a famous unsolved puzzle in quantitative social science. Why do some nations report such high levels of mental well-being? Denmark, for instance, regularly tops the league table of rich countries’ happiness; Britain and the US enter further down; some nations do unexpectedly poorly. The explanation for the long-observed ranking -- one that holds after adjustment for GDP and other socioeconomic variables -- is currently unknown. Using data on 131 countries, the paper cautiously explores a new approach. It documents three forms of evidence consistent with the hypothesis that some nations may have a genetic advantage in well-being.

Keywords: well-being, international, happiness, genes, 5-HTT, countries

JEL Classification: I300, I310

Suggested Citation

Proto, Eugenio and Proto, Eugenio and Oswald, Andrew J., National Happiness and Genetic Distance: A Cautious Exploration (November 28, 2015). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 5659, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2719516 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2719516

Eugenio Proto

University of Glasgow ( email )

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Andrew J. Oswald (Contact Author)

University of Warwick - Department of Economics ( email )

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