The Carlos III University of Madrid has developeda new happiness index based on migratory flows rather than based on subjective responsesto surveys. And according to the results, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand top the list of the happiest countries in the world, whileSpain ranks 49th.
“The new happiness index is based onwhat people do instead of what they say“, assure the authors through a press release. The starting hypothesis is thata country where everyone wants to go live cannot be very unhappy. “Migratory flows are closely linked to aspects that psychology relates to happiness; Based on these results, a happiness index can be constructed that provides more logical values ”, explains Juan de Dios Tena, professor from the UC3M Department of Statistics, who carried out the study together with researchers from the University of the Islands. Baleares and the Universidad Católica del Norte (Chile).
Countries such asHong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, Norway, Israel, South Korea, Sweden, Canada or Australia, while the latter include Bolivia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Cameroon, Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria, Afghanistan, South Africa or China. The new classification, released at the fourteenth edition of the International Economics Conference held this summer in Palma de Mallorca, tries to avoid the subjectivity of the polls. Instead, an estimate ofto what extent the decisions to emigrate or not of people in different countries are influenced by variables that reflect economic, social and institutional characteristicsof each country and a country happiness ranking is made based on this estimate.
“Migratory flows not only depend on thepossibility of finding employment, as is often thought, but also ipollution, terrorism or economic inequalities flow, variables that psychology considers as determinants of happiness “, says Juan de Dios Tena. The usefulness of this type of happiness index goes far beyond the academic, according to the researchers, who point out that this type of estimations provide a An open guide for evaluating any type of political decisions. The well-being of a country is not measured only by its per capita income. Good policies, they point out, would be those that increase the desire of people to live in the country that carries them out; while the bad ones are those that reduce that desire.
