IR224: Happiness and Policy

There is a growing demand for governments, businesses, and NGOs to put people and their wellbeing at the heart of policy design, as evidenced by calls from the OECD and the European Commission, as well as various national initiatives around the world. In the UK, the recent Levelling Up White Paper states that greater wellbeing, in every area of the UK, is the overall objective of UK Government.

This Summer School course caters to the increasing demand by governments and organisations in all sectors for analysts with a rigorous training in wellbeing. It is worldwide unique, being the first comprehensive Summer School training in the science of wellbeing and its application to policy design, appraisal, and evaluation.

Students will learn about the science of wellbeing, including wellbeing as a measure of welfare and its different conceptualisations such as evaluations and experiences of happiness; behavioural scientific phenomena uniquely captured by wellbeing such as adaptation to changing life circumstances, our tendency to make mistakes and mispredict what actually makes us happy, and relative comparisons (or jealousy); and how happiness differs between individuals and societies. Importantly, students then learn how to apply these insights to policy-making, including policy design, appraisal, and evaluation. They are being familiarised with wellbeing theories and frameworks; data, measurement, and survey design; methods for wellbeing policy appraisal, including cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis; wellbeing policy evaluation; social welfare; and wellbeing interventions.

By the end of this course, students will have a firm understanding of the science of wellbeing and how to apply it to policy-making. They will be able to conduct cutting-edge policy analysis using wellbeing data, in line with official UK Government guidelines, and be qualified to work in analytical positions involving wellbeing and other social impacts data.

Our objective is to educate students to help create a happier society.

Prerequisites: Students should have studied at least one university-level introductory course in either economics, psychology, sociology, politics, international relations, public policy and administration, social policy, or management, ideally with a quantitative element in their course work.

Level: 200 level. Read more information on levels in our FAQs

Fees: Please see Fees and payments

Lectures: 36 hours

Classes: 18 hours

Assessment: One essay of 1,500 words (30%) and one final exam (70%). 

Typical credit: 3-4 credits (US) 7.5 ECTS points (EU)

Please note: Assessment is optional but may be required for credit by your home institution. Your home institution will be able to advise how you can meet their credit requirements. For more information on exams and credit, read Teaching and assessment

This course is suitable for all students with an interest in happiness, wellbeing, and policy. It may be of particular interest to those who have a background in economics, psychology, public policy and administration, or management and those who wish to go on to work on promoting wellbeing in governments, businesses, and NGOs, worldwide, either as analysts or in strategic roles.

If you are targeting a career in government, public or private sector consulting, or NGOs, you should consider this course. It will also be useful if you are starting an MSc programme in economics, psychology, public policy and administration, or management, as well as related subjects.

• Students will understand the concept of wellbeing, including its main theories and frameworks, empirical causes and consequences, and behavioural scientific phenomena that are uniquely captured by wellbeing.
• Students will understand the main measure of wellbeing, including issues related to survey design, being able to identify appropriate data for wellbeing policy analysis.
• Students will be able to identify appropriate research methods to study causal relationships between wellbeing and third factors, being able to critically assess the credibility of research studies and policy reports.
• Students will be able to apply state-of-the-art tools for wellbeing policy analysis, including cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis.
• Students will be able to form and contribute their own opinion to the (ongoing) debate about whether wellbeing should be the ultimate goal of organisations and societies.

The design of this course is guided by LSE faculty, as well as industry experts, who will share their experience and in-depth knowledge with you throughout the course.