A Public, Open, and Independently-Curated Database of Happiness Coefficients

Abstract

AbstractWe present a nascent database of happiness coefficients. This is a synthesis of evidence on the size of improvements to human life experience that can be expected from changing objective, policy-amenable circumstances. The wealth of data on people’s self-reported satisfaction with life in a wide variety of circumstances, from around the world, including respondents undergoing a diversity of changes and life events and subject to a variety of public policies and policy changes, has provided a rich base of knowledge about what makes life good. This growing research literature has in recent years been met with interest from central governments looking for accountable but more human-centred approaches to measuring progress, as well as for communicating objectives, making policy, and allocating resources. Meanwhile, frameworks for benefit-cost accounting using inference from life satisfaction data have been devised. In some cases central government finance departments and treasuries are incorporating this approach into their formal methodology for budgeting. The body of causal inference about these effects is still somewhat diffuse. Collating, reviewing, and synthesizing such evidence should be led initially by academia and ultimately by a broad academic, civil society, and government collaboration. We report on the assembly of a database of summary estimates for Canada, supplemented where needed by evidence from around the world. The categorized domains of individual experience and circumstances include Education, Environment, Work, Finances, Health, Social Capital, and Crime. The paper also explains the context for and limitations of the use of a database of happiness coefficients.