Putting a price on "Happiness"

WSJ.com - Happiness Inc.:

"One area of research that could have broad ramifications is work being done to put a price on happiness. David Blanchflower, a Dartmouth College economics professor, is a leader in this. He analyzed survey data covering tens of thousands of people in 35 nations, and cross-referenced the results with various economic data such as workers' wages and people's standards of living. He then sought to put a dollar figure on the value of a healthy, stable relationship.

One study that he co-authored found that if you're single or in a miserable marriage, you'd need to earn $100,000 more each year to be as happy as a happily married person. His research also showed that if you have sex just once a month, you'd need to earn $50,000 more a year to be as happy as someone having sex once a week with a monogamous partner.

A potential use of this is calculating damages in divorce proceedings. Plaintiffs could make the case that they should be compensated for 'a loss of happiness' due to, say, a straying spouse. Pharmaceutical companies, meanwhile, have talked to Dr. Blanchflower about using such data in marketing. His continued research, he says, could be used to market erectile dysfunction drugs, or drugs that combat depression.

Just as car makers advertise how much your gas mileage goes up if you buy their car -- and give you the actual data to back that claim -- drug makers could advertise how your happiness mileage would go up if you popped their pill. 'People are treated for mental disorders, they go back to work and they earn wages again,' Dr. Blanchflower says. 'We can see how their earnings go up. But how do they feel about themselves and the world? That has a value.'"