Developments in the Economics of Well-Being

The working paper consists of two parts. The first part sets out an analytical review of the empirical evidence on well-being, summarises key research findings, and overviews the potential policy implications as interpreted by a range of schools of thought. The second part looks at the developments in the economics of well-being from a central government perspective. It assesses their potential impact for policy and provides a series of proposals as to how to incorporate wellbeing evidence into policy appraisal.In pursuit of its objectives to raise prosperity for all, the Government needs to achieve an appropriate balance between policies that promote well-being and policies that maintain economic incentives to support innovation and growth. Such specific policy proposals need to be evaluated carefully, taking account of their impacts on government objectives for well-being, economic growth, distribution of income and wealth and affordability.