Tem

DEC 5

• Using Happiness Research in Community Development

• Core Rationale for Using Happiness Research in Community

• 1. We have a shared interest in economic activity that satisfies our community's needs.
• 2. Our primary cultural theory for how to do that is to increase GDP and rely on "non-intentional cooperation" to meet needs through self-interested economic activity.
• 3. Some critics of this approach agree that market economies are the fundamentally efficient, but argue that they can be assessed with better measures than GDP.
• 4. Happiness research allows communities to assess flows and stocks of goods, both economic and non-economic.
• 5. The same justifications for using political and economic policy to maintain GDP growth apply to more complete measures of subjective well-being in communities.
• C. Therefore, community development should be guided by both economic growth and broader measures of well-being.

• Models for Using Happiness Research in Community Development

• Macro-Economic Policy -- Incentives, taxes, and transfers can be used to address public well-being problems (ex. Opiod crisis, super fund sites, urban and rural development). Unemployment policy is a major focus of Happiness and Public Policy research (Frey and Stutzer).
• Zoning and Business Development -- This often takes the form of requirements and conditions placed on development based neighborhood community development plans. While this is a mainstream activity of government, it is often a lightning rod for political disagreement. Zoning requirements are often experience by entrepreneurs as an unwelcome tax or limitation on productivity.
• Government agencies focused on community well-being -- Parks and Recreation. In Spokane, for example, Corbin Arts. Parks programming.
• Socially Responsible Entrepreneurship -- Many entrepreneurs (especially those who are community based) approach investing with the goal of meeting self-interested and other-interested goals. They are hence more open to "voluntary intentional cooperation" with community planners. Example: Link Food in Spokane
• Philanthropic Advocacy for the Civil Economy -- Civic leaders and organizations from mainstream groups like Rotary, Chamber of Commerce often achieve improvements in a community's stock of social capital. Often business leaders in local communities come to understand that their opportunities might be contingent upon solving local problems. Examples like Riverfront Park, Riverfront Square (maybe), Sustainable Seattle, Tilth (in Seattle) suggest that civic groups can be effective in making intentional community development a product of community consensus (sort of).
• Employment in the Civil Economy -- Organizations such as SNAP, Catholic Charities, Lutheran Services, Meals on Wheels, etc. can be thought of as part of a civil economy since they generate economic activity around solving social problems. But so also, developers who maintain Section 8 housing projects as a matter of organizational mission. Community development (whether government, foundation, or community based) can be thought of as a distinct sector of economic activity focused by mission on improving community well-being.
• Voluntary Philanthropic Projects and Services -- Voluntary work might be included here as well if you regard the research as compelling in suggesting there are non-monetary benefits from volunteering. Examples beyond individual community volunteering include: Tilth

Frey and Strutzer, "Policy Consequences of Happiness Research"

• Main highlights:

• Effects of unemployment: Research suggesting that unemployment has a negative effect on SWB of both unemployed and employed. Psychic costs of unemployment. Social effects: inequality, crime, disruption of family life. Why would unemployment affect the employed? empathy, fear of economic insecurity. Main point: unemployment looks different when assessed wholistically. Not just about the "reservation wage".
• Policy implications unclear: The pain of unemployment is a motivator (Psychic costs may be functional.) Artificial job creation might have negative effects on investment.
• Externalities of Status markets: "People do not value the absolute level of their income but compare their economic standing to others." Positional externalities: Example 1, 2. There is a rationale in mainstream economics for addressing externalities. In this case by taxation and transfer. But again, there are problems. In addition to effect of taxation on growth, people might choose other ways to show status.