Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/35451 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 4645
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The paper provides evidence that happiness raises productivity. In Experiment 1, a randomized trial is designed. Some subjects have their happiness levels increased, while those in a control group do not. Treated subjects have 12% greater productivity in a paid piece-rate Niederle-Vesterlund task. They alter output but not the per-piece quality of their work. To check the robustness and lasting nature of this kind of effect, a complementary Experiment 2 is designed. In this, major real-world unhappiness shocks - bereavement and family illness - are studied. The findings from (real-life) Experiment 2 match those from (random-assignment) Experiment 1.
Subjects: 
Labor productivity
emotions
well-being
happiness
positive affect
experimental economics
JEL: 
D03
J24
C91
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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