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Christian Bjornskov, "Life Satisfaction: Is there a Role for Policy?" Policy Paper, European Enterprise Institute, October 2005 (european-enterprise.org)
Recent measures of what makes Europeans happy will come as no surprise to economic conservatives. Christian Bjornskov, a professor at the Aarhus School of Business in Denmark, analyzes differences among European countries in the average subjective happiness of the population. He asks what sort of public policies can affect people's satisfaction with life.
Certain factors generally thought to be conducive to happiness, such as democracy, absence of corruption, and freedom of the press, appear irrelevant. Similarly, socialist factors, such as the Scandinavian welfare state and redistribution of wealth, do not affect happiness. Nor do widespread education, free health care, or gender equality.
What does appear to ...