The Diminishing Utility of Economic Growth: From Maximizing Security toward Maximizing Subjective Well-Being
In: Critical review: an interdisciplinary journal of politics and society, Volume 10, Issue 4, p. 509-531
ISSN: 0891-3811
In The Joyless Economy: An Inquiry into Human Satisfaction and Consumer Dissatisfaction (1976), Tibor Scitovsky questioned the assumption that human happiness will be augmented if the level of consumption rises or becomes more uniform over time. Analysis of the 1990-1993 World Values Survey suggests that his doubts were well founded. Although economic gains apparently make a major contribution to subjective well-being as one moves from societies at the subsistence level to those with moderate levels of economic development, further economic growth seems to have little or no impact on subjective well-being. This transition seems to reflect a basic cultural change that results in the diminishing marginal utility of economic growth. 5 Figures, 15 References. Adapted from the source document.