USC.edu

Richard Easterlin

University Professor Emeritus of Economics
Email easterl@usc.edu Office KAP 318B Office Phone (213) 740-6993

Center, Institute & Lab Affiliations

  • USC Pop Lab,

Education

  • Ph.D. , University of Pennsylvania, 1/1953
  • M.A. , University of Pennsylvania, 1949
  • M.S. , Stevens Institute of Technology, 1948

  • Summary Statement of Research Interests

    Professor Easterlin studies changes in subjective well-being over the life cycle, applying the demographers’ technique of cohort analysis to social survey data. The aim is to clarify the role in determining well-being of circumstances such as living levels, family life, health, job conditions, and personality, and the reasons for the paradoxical relation between income and subjective well-being. At a point in time, there is a positive association between subjective well-being and size of income, but over time there is no improvement in subjective well-being as income increases.

  • Book Chapter

    • Easterlin, R. A. (2006). Building a Better Theory of Well-being. Oxford University Press. Vol. 29-64,
    • Easterlin, R. A. (2004). Life Satisfaction: Can We Produce It?. pp. p. 347-357. Norwell, MA: Challenges for Quality of Life in the Contemporary World/Kluwer Academic Press.
    • Easterlin, R. A. (2004). The Story of a Reluctant Economist. Cheltenham: Reflections of Eminent Economists/Edward Elgar. Vol. NA,

    Journal Article

    • Easterlin, R. A. (2011). The Impact of Modern Economic Growth on Urban-Rural Differences in Subjective Well Being. World Development.
    • Easterlin, R. A. (2010). The happiness–income paradox revisited. PNAS.
    • Easterlin, R. A. (2007). Modern Economic Growth and Quality of Life: Cross-Sectional and Time Series Evidence. Handbook of Social Indicators and Quality of Life Research.
    • Easterlin, R. A., Sirgy, M., Michalos, A. C., Ferriss, A. C., Patrick, D., Pavot, W. (2006). The Quality-of-Life (QOL) Research Movement: Past, Present, and Future. pp. p.343-466.Social Indicators Research/Springer.
    • Easterlin, R. A. (2006). Life Cycle Happiness and Its Sources: Intersection of Psychology, Economics and Demography. pp. p.463-482.Journal of Economic Psychology/Elsevier.
    • Zimmermann, A. C., Easterlin, R. A. (2006). Happily Ever After? Marriage, Divorce, and Happiness in Germany. pp. p.511-528. Malden, MA and Oxford: Population and Development Review/Blackwell.
    • Easterlin, R. A. (2005). Feeding the Illusion of Growth and Happiness: A Reply to Hagerty and Veenhoven. pp. p. 429 – 443.Social Indicators Research/Springer.
    • Easterlin, R. A. (2005). Diminishing Marginal Utility of Income? Caveat Emptor. pp. p. 243-255.Social Indicators Research/Springer.
    • Easterlin, R. A. (2005). A Puzzle for Adaptive Theory. pp. p. 513-521.Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization/Elsevier.
    • Easterlin, R. A. (2004). The Economics of Happiness. pp. p. 26 – 33.Daedalus/MIT Press.
    • Distinguished Fellow, American Economic Association, 2006
    • National Academy of Sciences, 2002
    • USC University Professor, 1999
    • Fellow, 1978
    • President of Western Economic Association International, 2010-2011
    • President Elect of Western Economic Association International, 2009-2010
    • Guggenheim Fellowship Recipient, 1988-1989
    • USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, 1988
    • President, Economic History Association, 1979-1980
    • President, Population Association of America, 1978

  • Committees

    • “Director or Undergraduate Studies”, 2010-2011
    • “Advisor to Provost”, 2010-2011

    Editorships and Editorial Boards

    • Associate Editor, Journal of Happiness Studies”, 2006 –
    • Associate Editor, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization”, 2004 – 2008