Does higher employee wellbeing lead to productivity, and, ultimately, tangible benefits the bottom line of businesses? We survey evidence and study this question in a meta-analysis 339 independent research studies, including 1,882,131 employees performance 82,248 business units, originating from 230 organisations across 49 industries Gallup client database. find significant, strong positive correlation between employees' satisfaction with their company productivity customer loyalty, negative...

Abstract In this article, we lay out the basic case for wellbeing as goal of government. We briefly review history idea, which goes back to ancient Greeks and was acknowledged ideal Enlightenment. then discuss possible measures on a orientation could be based, emphasizing importance acknowledging political agency citizens thus their own evaluations lives. turn practicalities consequences: how would one actually set up wellbeing-oriented decision-making what difference should expect from...

Enriched environments elicit brain plasticity in animals. In humans it is unclear which environment enriching. Living a city has been associated with increased amygdala activity stress paradigm, and being brought up pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC) activity. We set out to identify geographical characteristics that constitute an enriched affecting the human brain. used structural equation modelling on 341 older adults establish three latent factors (amygdala, pACC dorsolateral...

It is politicians who have to decide when release the lockdown, and in what way. In doing so, they balance many considerations (as with any decision). Often different appear incommensurable so that only roughest of judgements can be made. For example, case COVID-19, one has compare economic benefits releasing lockdown social psychological benefits, then total these increase deaths would result from an early exit. We here propose a way this more systematically.

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Neighborhood characteristics are important determinants of individual health and well-being. For example, such as noise pollution affect directly, while other well-being by either providing resources (e.g. social capital in the neighborhood), which individuals can use to cope with problems, or limiting thereof crime). This also suggests that there might be age differentials impact these characteristics, since at different stages life need...

Every day, policy makers must decide whether a is desirable. They do so by examining its impact on range of outcomes. But the problem how to aggregate these disparate For example, as covid-19 cases rise again, some lockdown measures are gradually being reintroduced across UK. These choices will lead outcomes that good (such fewer deaths from covid-19, less commuting, better air quality) and bad (unemployment, income losses, loneliness, domestic abuse). How can effects in order arrive at an...

This paper investigates the effects of urban green and abandoned areas on residential well-being in major German cities, using panel data from Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for time period between 2000 2012 cross-section European Urban Atlas (EUA) year 2006. Using a Geographical Information System (GIS), it calculates distance to areas, measured as Euclidean 100 metres households border nearest area, respectively, coverage hectares covered by pre-defined buffer area 1,000 around households,...

Abstract We introduce the WELLBY, a new measure of social value and progress, which can contribute to assessment progress towards wellbeing economy steer activities with most per financial resources invested. After providing short rationale for we give definition an overview its properties. then show how WELLBYs help decision-makers ex-ante policy appraisals deliver practical example youth traineeship programme. also discuss coefficients from ex-post evaluations are now being collected as...

The relationship between urbanization, the brain, and human mental health is subject to intensive debate in current scientific literature. Particularly, since mood anxiety disorders as well schizophrenia are known be more frequent urban compared rural regions. Here, we investigated association cerebral signatures, land use indicators (Urban Fabric Urban Green) within a 1 km radius around home address of 207 well-characterized older adults. We observed negative coverage positive Green grey...

There is a strong suggestion from the existing literature that volunteering improves wellbeing of those who give up their time to help others, but much it correlational and not causal. In this paper, we estimate benefits for England's National Health Service (NHS) Volunteer Responders programme, which was set in response Covid-19 pandemic. Using sample over 9,000 volunteers, exploit oversubscription programme random assignment tasks causal returns, across multiple counterfactuals. We find...

Abstract Economics has traditionally understood ‘welfare’ (what makes a life go well) as the satisfaction of preference. This conceptualisation welfare is typically measured using revealed preferences, proxied through income and prices or stated in willingness‐to‐pay surveys. Recent decades have seen growing challenges to this paradigm. The climate crisis, among other phenomena, called into question whether price data effectively proxy surveys continue struggle with accurately pricing...

Around the world, governments have been asking their citizens to practice physical distancing and stay at home contain spread of Covid-19. Are happier people more willing comply with these measures? Using three independent surveys covering over 119,000 adult respondents across 35 countries, including longitudinal data from UK, we test competing psychological theories, find that past present happiness predicts compliance during lockdown. The relationship is stronger for those higher levels...

We show that hosting the Olympic Games in 2012 had a positive impact on life satisfaction and happiness of Londoners during Games, compared to residents Paris Berlin. Notwithstanding issues causal inference, magnitude effects is equivalent moving from bottom fourth income decile. But they do not last very long: are gone within year. These conclusions based novel panel survey 26,000 individuals who were interviewed summers 2011, 2012, 2013, i.e. before, during, after event. The results robust...

We study the impact of Fukushima disaster on environmental concerns, well-being, risk aversion, and political preferences in Germany, Switzerland, UK. In these countries, overall life satisfaction did not significantly decrease, but increased concerns among Germans. One underlying mechanism likely operated through perceived a similar meltdown domestic reactors. After Fukushima, more Germans considered themselves as “very averse”. However, drastic German policy action shut down oldest...

Abstract To combat the public health crisis of Covid-19, governments and officials have been asking individuals to substantially change their behaviours for prolonged periods time. Are happier people more willing comply with such measures? Using independent, large-scale surveys covering about 79,000 adult respondents across 29 countries, including longitudinal data from UK, we find that life satisfaction predicts compliance preventive during Covid-19 lockdowns, especially number weekdays...