Does environmental innovation make us happy? An empirical investigation

The aim of this paper is to provide an efficient framework to study the relationship between happiness and eco-innovation, measured by eco-efficiency, considered as a subset of the wider question concerning the relationship between happiness and innovation. The conceptual background describes how happiness can be linked to environmental innovations, drawing potential relations among happiness, environment and innovations. An analytical model derives the relationship between happiness and eco-efficiency from a generic utility function. The empirical focus is on the effects of environmental innovation on population well-being for ten European countries over the period 1981–2011. Environmental innovation is measured by an eco-efficiency indicator (the percentage of total energy from combustible renewables and waste). Results from a panel data model show a positive correlation between eco-efficiency and happiness, linking countries' general well-being to environmental conditions, the pace at which they adopt eco-innovations, and the relative efficacy of the latter.     

不同所有制企业员工幸福感差异的比较

不同所有制各个企业的员工工资水平、员工福利待遇以及员工培训等方面存在一定的差异,也因此企业员工的工作满意度和幸福指数也各不相同。文中尝试运用社会指标法,来测评不同所有制企业员工的幸福感的高低。     

快乐教育:提升国民快乐幸福的重要手段

快乐经济学认为,快乐幸福是人类一切行为的终极目标,追求快乐幸福应该成为全社会共同关注的话题。开展快乐教育,构建全方位的快乐教育体系,是提升国民快乐幸福的重要手段。     

HAPPINESS AND HEALTH: TWO PARADOXES

Abstract This paper aims to establish systematic relationships between the two rapidly growing research streams on the socio‐economic determinants of happiness and health. Although they have been pursued quite independently by different communities of researchers, empirical evidence points to very similar underlying causal mechanisms. In particular, in both cases per capita income seems to play a major role only up to a very low threshold, beyond which relative income and other relational factors become crucial for happiness and health. On the basis of these structural analogies, we argue that a process of cross‐fertilisation between these two research streams would contribute to their development by clarifying the relationship between happiness, health and their determinants. Finally, we observe that the two literatures have converging policy implications: measures meant to reduce poverty and inequality and invest in social and environmental capital may improve both health and happiness of the individuals.     

The co-creation of value for pursuing a sustainable happiness: The analysis of an Italian prison community

Happiness is generally considered a timeless and an ultimate goal for human being, groups, and even nations. Even though the personal dimension of happiness has been widely investigated, the literature still calls for further research on how individual, community and/or global happiness can be enhanced and sustained in the long run without exploiting future generations possibility to be happy. Thus, this study aims at contributing to bridge this gap, embracing value co-creation and its circular logic as a guiding framework of analysis. To this end, the existing relationship between happiness, co-creation and sustainable development has been explored according to the Public Service Logic (PSL), a theoretical framework based on the well-established construct of value co-creation. To support the theoretical investigation, an extreme case study has been analysed, underlining the way a specific Italian prison community approaches individual and collective happiness, both currently and in the future. The results paved the way for some interesting managerial and policy implications that might stimulate policymakers in carrying out sustainable actions and programs open to the participation and the active contribution of citizens. In this sense, the present study represents one of the first attempts to approach happiness as one of the determinants of sustainable development.     

Openness,rural-urban inequality,and happiness in China

Although the relationship between income inequality and subjective well-being has been extensively discussed in the literature, relatively little is known about the effects of openness on subjective well-being and how rural-urban inequality may influence these effects. This article attempts to address this issue by using the dataset of the China General Social Survey (CGSS). We find that the effect of trade openness on happiness takes an inverted U shape, whereas that of financial openness is U-shaped. We also find that rural-urban inequality has a dampening effect on happiness, and this effect is strengthened by trade openness but weakened by financial openness. These findings extend previous studies on the determinants of happiness by highlighting the different effects associated with trade openness and financial openness and how these effects may interact with rural-urban inequality.     

Which formula for national happiness?

The World Happiness Report is published by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network and contains an international ranking of national average happiness, as measured by surveys of personal life evaluations. It also contains an analysis which tries to explain the happiness figures from more than 150 countries using data on six key variables. That analysis assumes the factors combine in an additive manner and therefore operate independently of each other. By contrast, we explore a multiplicative model, which allows for interactivity or synergy between factors, as well as the possibility of diminishing marginal benefit at higher levels of achievement. We find that this model provides a better fit to the data and is therefore superior in its explanatory power. The implication for policy-makers is that they should focus on improving those factors which are the lowest for their nation as this will provide greater relative benefits to subjective well-being. At an individual level this means focusing on improving conditions for those who are experiencing the lowest levels of well-being.     

Why Does Growing up in an Intact Family during Childhood Lead to Higher Earnings during Adulthood in the United States?*

With a view to finding an explanation of the observed differences in adult annual earnings between workers raised in intact (INTACT) and non‐intact families in the US labor market, this study tests two hypotheses. First, workers growing up in intact families during childhood earn more during their adulthood because they acquire more years of schooling, which in turn affect their wages positively. Second, intact family background acts as an instrument for numerous factors that contribute to workers' happiness during adulthood. Since happier workers, with other characteristics held constant, are known to have higher earnings, workers raised in intact families during childhood by leading a relatively happier life during their adulthood earn more than their otherwise identical non‐intact counterparts. Both these hypotheses find strong support from the US data. The evidence of simultaneous relationships between wage and happiness and between happiness and schooling confirms that the true effect of INTACT on wage may be much larger than what is envisaged by a simple one‐step process. Regardless of whether this relationship is due to causation or correlation, the study simply demonstrates that the US evidence of higher earnings associated with workers raised in intact families may be attributed partly to their higher levels of schooling and happier lives. By demonstrating a significant positive relationship between the stability of parental family structure during childhood and earnings during adulthood, the current study highlights the importance of responsible parenthood as a means of improving the child's future economic performance.     

The U-shaped relationship between happiness and age: evidence using world values survey data

The paper retests the U-shaped relationship between happiness and age using the cross-classified multilevel regression procedure and the World Values Survey data. The analysis accounts for period and cohort effects. The results reconfirm the pattern that happiness is U-shaped in the life course. That is, happiness decreases from a high-point in young adulthood, reaches a low-point in midlife, and thereafter increases to arrive at another high-point in old age. The results show that the high-point of happiness in old age is lower than the high-point of happiness in young adulthood. That happiness does not return to its initial high-point after it drops to a low-point in midlife is perhaps another stylized fact in the relationship between happiness and age.     

城市幸福指数及其测评指标体系

城市幸福指数测评指标的构建,有助于用量化的方法对幸福城市的建设进行监测与评估。对城市幸福指数构建的意义进行了理论分析,在对国内外现有相关研究进行系统总结与分析的基础上,提出了我国城市幸福指数测评指标构建的指导原则及指标体系,并对城市幸福指数测评运用中需要注意的问题进行了探讨。     

Revamp your software selection process

Very few software implementations fail from lack of functionality. More often, the failure results from other factors. Yet most companies continue to focus primarily on software functionality during the selection and evaluation process. By expanding the scope of your evaluation process to include other important factors, your probability of successful implementation and future happiness with your vendor can be dramatically enhanced.     

重庆师范大学家庭经济困难学生成长现状调查研究

家庭经济困难学生群体在重庆师范大学是客观存在且数量较多的一个重要群体。调研发现,该群体有认同其心理属性、群体属性消极面的倾向,部分学生焦虑现在及未来的生存状况,幸福感较弱;但多数困难学生能够正视自身弱势,渴望改善,体现出"努力逆袭"积极追求状态。因此,了解和掌握家庭经济困难学生的现状和成长需求,有助于学校管理者在对待该群体工作上更新思路、改进策略,提升该群体的幸福指数。     

当代大学生幸福感调查与思考

随着社会的加速发展,当代大学生面临着更加严峻的学习、就业、家庭、婚恋、人际关系等多方面的压力,对幸福的追求发生了微妙的变化。通过调查,发现大学生整体幸福感状况良好,但也存在偏差。基于调查,提出了提升大学生幸福感的建议:1.加强幸福教育,培养积极心理品质;2.加强校园文化建设,搭建大学生体验幸福感的机会和平台;3.加强心理健康教育课程建设,促进大学生幸福感水平提升;4.引导大学生在社会化过程中加强自我完善。     

Happiness sentiments and the prediction of cross-border country exchange-traded fund returns

This research examines whether social media (Twitter) happiness sentiment and country-level happiness sentiment indices predict cross-border ETF returns. To account for complicated associations between happiness sentiment and ETF returns, we use a quantile regression approach and find that Twitter and trading market (U.S.) happiness sentiments are strong predictors of future ETF returns, for which both have far greater predictive power than those of their home countries. Home country happiness indices exhibit asymmetric impacts across quantiles, suggesting the importance of trading country (U.S.) and Twitter happiness sentiments. Higher U.S. and home countries’ freedom to make life choices, absence of corruption perception, and confidence in national government precede higher ETF returns, while U.S. GDP, social support, health life expectancy, positive affect, and negative affect precede lower (abnormal) returns. We find that higher return quantile country ETFs provide a safe haven for U.S. investors during a U.S. bear market.     

高职院校服务社会(创业)培训模式的实证研究

本文在理论研究的基础上尝试性的建立了数据结构方程模型,检验高等职业院校服务社会的"培训——创业——增收——幸福"模式。通过研究发现,创业培训与收入增加和生活幸福具有显著相关性,该理论对于高等职业院校的职业培训工作具有实践指导意义。     

“互联网+”大背景下传统物业服务企业创新发展初探——以构建“e家居”APP为例

互联网以其迅猛的技术发展、高效的信息传播、便捷的信息获取等优势,得到了广泛的运用,渗透到了社会生活的方方面面。因此,将传统行业进行一次“互联网+”的产业升级已是大势所趋。相较于其他物业服务企业,校园物业服务企业的服务对象——在校大学生群体,具有网络操作熟练、文化素质较高等特点,因而转型压力小。“e家居”APP正是立足于学生群体,致力于打造学生与物业沟通交流的平台,在方便大学生的日常生活、提高大学生的幸福感的同时,打通校园物业服务的“最后一公里”,进而提升整个物业服务行业的水准。     

安康学院大学生幸福感调查与建议

随着社会的加速发展,当代大学生对幸福的追求发生了微妙的变化。通过调查,发现学习、就业、家庭、婚恋、人际关系等是影响大学生整体幸福感的基本因素。基于调查,提出了提升大学生幸福感的建议:①加强对学生的世界观、人生观、价值观教育和引导培养积极心理品质;②创造条件,解决大学生的实际困难;③加强学业指导和辅导;④开展社会实践,创造大学生参与社会生活、提高环境适应能力的条件和机会;⑤加强校园的文化建设,搭建大学生体验幸福感的机会和平台。     

Twitter’s daily happiness sentiment,economic policy uncertainty,and stock index fluctuations

This research applies quantile Granger causality and impulse-response analyses to evaluate the causal linkages among Twitter’s daily happiness sentiment, economic policy uncertainty (EPU), and S&P 500 indices across the U.S. stock market cycles. We present notable evidence of bi-directional causality among cyclical components of Twitter’s daily happiness sentiment, economic policy uncertainty, and S&P 500 indices for most quantiles. The causal linkage of Twitter’s daily happiness sentiment and S&P 500 indices identified in this study reconciles the so-called Easterlin Paradox and Easterlin Illusion arguments from previous studies on income-happiness relationship. Moreover, given a high (low) EPU level, the positive (negative) impulse-response effects between the Twitter’s daily happiness sentiment and the S&P 500 indices are justified during a stock market bust cycle, but the signs of these correlations change to negative (positive) during a stock market boom cycle. These findings imply that investors’ hedging strategies can be linked to the surveillance of the Twitter’s daily happiness sentiment index.     

生态城市使生活更美好

使生活更美好是城市发展的终极目标。从城市发展的三角形,即可持续性、经济利益、幸福指数入手,回顾了近现代城市建设的三个里程碑,并以美国的居住地与幸福程度的抽样调查为例,深入分析了城市发展中幸福与增长的关系,在此基础上提出了一系列生态城市规划建设的原则,介绍了生态城市建设的典范——德国弗莱堡的经验。     

配偶收入如何影响自身生活幸福感？——基于中国综合社会调查（2006）的实证分析

本文从理论上梳理了配偶收入影响自身幸福感的两种影响渠道:经济支持渠道和收入比较渠道.通过这两种渠道,配偶收入对自身幸福感分别产生正效应和负效应,综合影响取决于这两种效应的相对大小.进而,基于中国综合社会调查(2006)的微观数据,我们采用有序Probit模型进行了经验分析.研究发现,第一,配偶收入和自己的收入均对自身“潜在幸福感”有显著的正向影响,但配偶收入的影响程度小于自己的收入.这表明,就对幸福感的影响而言,自己的收入和配偶的收入并不完全是同质的.第二,对年龄较大的群体和高收入群体,配偶收入的正向影响不显著,而对年龄较小的群体和低收入群体,配偶收入的正向影响则是显著的.这表明,人们在不同经济体制下接受的价值观念以及自身收入水平的高低是配偶收入影响自身幸福感的调节变量.