Are richer people happier?

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to investigate whether there is any relation between the happiness of a society and the level of income that it has. In order to answer this question, we analyse this relation for different European countries Furthermore, we try to understand the role played by some factors in determining the level of happiness. We employ data from European Social Survey to have an idea of the income-happiness relation. The outcome of the study is that the income has an impact on happiness in any country. Nevertheless, not in all countries it affects in the same way, it depends on the values and culture of each country.