Wellbeing and Policy Evidence for Action

Foreword

Roberta Metsola

1.         Overview of wellbeing and policy: Evidence for action

Marie Briguglio, Natalia V. Czap, and Kate Laffan

Part I. Wellbeing: Evidence across individual domains

2.         Income and wellbeing

Laura Kudrna

3.         Work and wellbeing: Maximising the wellbeing of tomorrow’s workforce

Alexandra Kirienko, Kate Laffan, and Laura M. Giurge

4.         Health and wellbeing: Identifying causal effects

Hans Czap and Marie Briguglio

5.         Family and wellbeing: The emerging importance of family wellbeing studies for social policies and services

Lili Xia

6.         Altruism, empathy, and wellbeing: Improving lives through policy that aligns with our better angels

Stephanie Preston and Tanner Nichols

7.         Ageing and wellbeing: The potential of senior policy to support seniors’ subjective wellbeing

Maciej Górny and Krzysztof Hajder

8.         Gender and wellbeing: Key states of the life course

Jaslin Kaur Kalsi and Astghik Mavisakalyan

9.         Education and wellbeing

Ingebjørg Kristoffersen, Alfred Michael Dockery, and Ian W. Li

Part II. Wellbeing: Evidence across social and environmental domains

10.       Housing, neighbourhoods, and wellbeing

Marie Briguglio, Dylan Cassar, and Daniel Gravino

11.       Environment and wellbeing: Assessing the impact of environmental quality and pro-environmental behavior on wellbeing

Kate Laffan, Hans Czap, and Natalia V. Czap

12.       (Fear of) crime and wellbeing: The role of individual and country-level determinants

Eva Krulichová

13.       Democracy and wellbeing

Alois Stutzer, Benjamin Jansen, and Tobias Schib

14.       Migration and wellbeing: A policy review

Martijn Hendriks

15.       Religion, spirituality and wellbeing: Can spiritual/religious practice improve individuals’ wellbeing?

Teresa García-Muñoz and Shoshana Neuman

16.       Digital technology and wellbeing: Moving beyond the hype

Diane Pelly

17.       Art, culture, and wellbeing: Reaping the rewards of creativity

Leonie Baldacchino

Part III. Wellbeing: Evidence from countries

18.       Wellbeing and policy in Bhutan

Kehinde Balogun and Kariuki Weru

19.       Wellbeing and policy in New Zealand: From a wellbeing framework to a government-wide approach

Dan Weijers

20.       Wellbeing and policy in Finland: The economy-of-wellbeing approach

Riikka Pellikka and Heli Hätönen

21.       Wellbeing and policy in the United Arab Emirates: Strategic directions and lessons learned

Ahmad Samarji and Amal AlBlooshi

22.       Wellbeing and policy in Canada: Progress towards measurement and practice

Chris P. Barrington-Leigh

23.       Wellbeing and policy in Australia

Michelle Baddeley

24.       Wellbeing and policy in the United Kingdom

Joanne Smithson

25.       Wellbeing and policy in Japan

Toshiaki Hiromitsu, Eriko Teramura and Ryusuke Oishi

26.       Wellbeing and policy in Malta: Doing well; feeling good?

Marie Briguglio

Appendix

Index

Biography

Marie Briguglio is Associate Professor at the Department of Economics, University of Malta. She has served as Principal Investigator on several EU-funded and collaborative public-sector research projects in the fields of wellbeing, environmental and behavioural economics. She is also an award-winning multi-media writer.

Natalia V. Czap is Professor of Economics and the Chair of the Department of Social Sciences at University of Michigan-Dearborn, the United States. Her research interests include behavioural and experimental economics, behavioural public policy, and wellbeing policy.

Kate Laffan is Assistant Professor of Behavioural Science at the Department for Psychological and Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. She researches the reciprocal relationship between human wellbeing and behaviour and works on the application of behavioural science to policy challenges.