DenmarkRanksasHappiestCountryBurundi,NotSoMuch

BySEWELLCHANMARCH16,2016LONDON

Denmarkhasreclaimeditsplaceastheworldshappiestcountry,whileBurundiranksasthe
leasthappynation,accordingtothefourthWorldHappinessReport,releasedonWednesday.

Thereportfoundthatinequalitywasstronglyassociatedwithunhappinessastarkfindingfor
richcountriesliketheUnitedStates,whererisingdisparitiesinincome,wealth,healthand
wellbeinghavefueledpoliticaldiscontent.

Denmarktoppedthelistinthefirstreport,in2012,andagainin2013,butitwasdisplacedby
Switzerlandlastyear.Inthisyearsranking,DenmarkwasbackatNo.1,followedby
Switzerland,Iceland,Norway,Finland,Canada,theNetherlands,NewZealand,Australiaand
Sweden.Mostarefairlyhomogeneousnationswithstrongsocialsafetynets.

Atthebottomofthelistofmorethan150countrieswasBurundi,whereaviolentpoliticalcrisis
brokeoutlastyear.BurundiwasprecededbySyria,Togo,Afghanistan,Benin,Rwanda,
Guinea,Liberia,TanzaniaandMadagascar.Allofthosenationsarepoor,andmanyhavebeen
destabilizedbywar,diseaseorboth.

Oftheworldsmostpopulousnations,ChinacameinatNo.83,IndiaatNo.118,theUnited
StatesatNo.13,IndonesiaatNo.79,BrazilatNo.17,PakistanatNo.92,NigeriaatNo.103,
BangladeshatNo.110,RussiaatNo.56,JapanatNo.53andMexicoatNo.21.TheUnited
Statesrosetwospots,fromNo.15in2015.

From2005to2015,Greecesawthelargestdropinhappinessofanycountry,areflectionofthe
economiccrisisthatbegantherein2007.

ThehappinessrankingwasbasedonindividualresponsestoaglobalpollconductedbyGallup.
Thepollincludedaquestion,knownastheCantrilLadder:Pleaseimaginealadder,withsteps
numberedfrom0atthebottomto10atthetop.Thetopoftheladderrepresentsthebest
possiblelifeforyouandthebottomoftheladderrepresentstheworstpossiblelifeforyou.On
whichstepoftheladderwouldyousayyoupersonallyfeelyoustandatthistime?

Thescholarsfoundthatthreequartersofthevariationacrosscountriescouldbeexplainedby
sixvariables:grossdomesticproductpercapita(therawestmeasureofanationswealth)
healthyyearsoflifeexpectancysocialsupport(asmeasuredbyhavingsomeonetocountonin
timesoftrouble)trust(asmeasuredbyperceivedabsenceofcorruptioningovernmentand
business)perceivedfreedomtomakelifechoicesandgenerosity(asmeasuredbydonations).

ThereportwaspreparedbytheSustainableDevelopmentSolutionsNetwork,aninternational
panelofsocialscientiststhatincludeseconomists,psychologistsandpublichealthexperts
convenedbytheUnitedNationssecretarygeneral,BanKimoon.Thoughthefindingsdonot

representtheformalviewsoftheUnitedNations,thenetworkiscloselytiedtotheSustainable
DevelopmentGoals,whichtheorganizationadoptedinSeptember,aiming,amongotherthings,
toendpovertyandhungerby2030,whilesavingtheplanetfromthemostdestructiveeffectsof
climatechange.

Thefieldofhappinessresearchhasgrowninrecentyears,butthereissignificantdisagreement
abouthowtomeasurehappiness.Somescholarsfindpeoplessubjectiveassessmentsoftheir
wellbeingtobeunreliable,andtheypreferobjectiveindicatorslikeeconomicandhealthdata.
ThescholarsbehindtheWorldHappinessReportsaidtheytriedtotakebothtypesofdatainto
account.

Inachapterofthereportonthedistributionofhappinessaroundtheworld,threeeconomists
JohnF.Helliwell,oftheUniversityofBritishColumbiaHaifangHuangoftheUniversityof
AlbertaandShunWangoftheKoreaDevelopmentInstitutearguedagainstawidelyheld
viewthatchangesinpeoplesassessmentsoftheirlivesarelargelytransitory.Underthisview,
peoplehaveabaselinelevelofcontentmentandrapidlyadapttochangingcircumstances.

Thethreeeconomistsnotedresearchshowingthatpeoplesevaluationsoftheirlivesdiffer
significantlyandsystematicallyamongcountriesthatwithincountries,subgroupsdifferwidely
intheirlevelsofhappinessthatunemploymentandmajordisabilitieshavelastinginfluenceson
wellbeingandthatthehappinessofmigrantsapproximatesthatoftheirnewcountry,insteadof
theircountryoforigin.

Thethreeeconomistsnotedthatcrisescanpromptvastlydifferentresponsesbasedonthe
underlyingsocialfabric.InGreece,wheretheeconomybegantoplummetin2007,settingoffa
crisisintheeurozonethathasresultedinthreefinancialbailouts,widespreadcorruptionand
mistrustwereassociatedwiththediminishingsenseofhappinessoverthepastdecade.In
contrast,trustandsocialcapitalaresohighinJapanthatscholarsfound,totheirsurprise,that
happinessactuallyincreasedinFukushima,whichwasdevastatedbyanearthquakeand
tsunamiin2011,becauseanoutpouringofgenerosityandcooperationcontributedtothe
communitysresilienceandrebuilding.

Acrisisimposedonaweakinstitutionalstructurecanactuallyfurtherdamagethequalityofthe
supportingsocialfabricifthecrisistriggersblameandstriferatherthancooperationandrepair,
theeconomistswrote.Ontheotherhand,economiccrisesandnaturaldisasterscan,ifthe
underlyinginstitutionsareofsufficientquality,leadtoimprovementsratherthandamagetothe
socialfabric.

Thereport,whichwasreleasedinRome,includedachapteranalyzingPopeFrancisinfluential
encyclicallastyear,calledLaudatoSi,orPraiseBetoYou,whichincludedacutting
assessmentofaworldinwhichcontinuoustechnologicalprogresswasaccompaniedby
environmentaldegradation,growinganxietiesaboutthefutureandpersistentinjusticeand
violence.

JeffreyD.Sachs,aColumbiaUniversityeconomistwhoeditedthereportwithDr.Helliwelland
RichardLayardoftheLondonSchoolofEconomics,praisedPopeFrancisadmonitionagainst
hedonismandconsumerism.

Healsoforcefullyrejectedthenotionthathappinessandfreedomespeciallywhennarrowly
definedaseconomiclibertyareinterchangeable.

Thelibertarianargumentthateconomicfreedomshouldbechampionedaboveallothervalues
decisivelyfailsthehappinesstest:Thereisnoevidencethateconomicfreedomperseisa
majordirectcontributorofhumanwellbeingaboveandbeyondwhatitmightcontributetowards
percapitaincomeandemployment,Dr.Sachswrote.Individualfreedommattersfor
happiness,butamongmanyobjectivesandvalues,nottotheexclusionofthoseother
considerations.