Dr Christian Krekel

This course is available on the MSc in Behavioural Science. This course is not available as an outside option.

This course, or its standard assessment equivalent (PB441), is compulsory for students on the wellbeing stream of MSc Behavioural Science.

This course introduces students to the main concepts and tools of wellbeing for policy-making, with a focus on applicability in policies across all sectors (government, business, and NGOs). It will enable students to conduct cutting-edge policy analysis using wellbeing data, to qualify them to take up analytical positions involving wellbeing and other social impacts data. To achieve this aim, the course is based on ten lectures covering: 1) wellbeing in theory; 2) evidence on the causes and consequences of wellbeing (including behavioural scientific phenomena uniquely captured by wellbeing); 3) data, measurement, and survey design; 4) wellbeing policy appraisal i: cost-benefit analysis; 5) wellbeing policy appraisal ii: cost-effectiveness analysis; 6) wellbeing policy evaluation; 7) social welfare; 8) wellbeing interventions; 9) embedding wellbeing into the policy-making process; 10) wellbeing as the ultimate goal?

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the WT.

Books

• Frijters, P., & C. Krekel (2021). A Handbook for Wellbeing Policy-Making. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Journal articles

• Benjamin, D. J., O. Heffetz, M. S. Kimball, & A. Rees-Jones (2014). What Do You Think Would Make You Happier? What Do You Think You Would Choose? American Economic Review, 102(5), 2083-2110.

• Clark, A. E., E. Diener, Y. Georgellis, & R. E. Lucas (2008). Lags And Leads in Life Satisfaction: a Test of the Baseline Hypothesis. Economic Journal, 118(529), F222-F243.

• Dolan, P., G. Kavetsos, C. Krekel, D. Mavridis, R. Metcalfe, C. Senik, S. Szymanski & N. R. Ziebarth (2019). Quantifying the intangible impact of the Olympics using subjective well-being data. Journal of Public Economics, 177, 104043.

• Dwyer, R. J., & E. W. Dunn (2022). Wealth redistribution promotes happiness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(46), e2211123119.

• Kahneman, D., P. P. Wakker, & R. Sarin (1997). Back to Bentham? Explorations of Experienced Utility. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(2), 375-406.

• Krekel, C., J.-E. De Neve, D. Fancourt, & R. Layard (2021). A local community course that raises wellbeing and pro-sociality: Evidence from a randomised controlled trial. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 188, 322-336.

• Lindqvist, E., R. Östling, & D. Cesarini (2020). Long-Run Effects of Lottery Wealth on Psychological Well-Being. Review of Economic Studies, 87(6), 2703-2726.

• Odermatt, R., & A. Stutzer (2019). (Mis-)Predicted Subjective Well-Being Following Life Events. Journal of the European Economic Association, 17(1), 245-283.

• Oswald, A. J., E. Proto & D. Sgroi (2015). Happiness and Productivity. Journal of Labor Economics, 33(4), 789-822.

• Perez-Truglia, R. (2020). The Effects of Income Transparency on Well-Being: Evidence from a Natural Experiment. American Economic Review, 110(4), 1019-1054.

• Tay, L., & E. Diener (2011). Needs and Subjective Well-Being Around the World. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(2), 354-365.

• Ward, G. (2019). Happiness and Voting: Evidence from Four Decades of Elections in Europe. American Journal of Political Science, 64(3), 504-518.

Policy papers

• HM Treasury (2021). Green Book Supplementary Guidance: Wellbeing. Wellbeing Guidance for Appraisal.

• HM Treasury (2021). Green Book Supplementary Guidance: Wellbeing. Monetisation of Life Satisfaction Effect Sizes.

Dissertation (100%, 10000 words) in the post-spring term.

You are required to write a 10,000 word dissertation (replacing the essay and presentation). You are expected to attend the course teaching on the half-unit that you chose to write your dissertation on.