How to Take Stock of Research Findings on Happiness in Regions Using the World Database of Happiness

Abstract There is a demand for information on the quality of life in regions, among policymakers, business organizations and individuals. Much that information is available in the results of empirical studies, but it is difficult to get to that information. How to gather and select the available research findings and present these in a comparable way? In this paper I argue that the most inclusive indicator of quality-of-life in regions is how happy its inhabitants are. Happiness in the sense life-satisfaction is well measurable and comparable across place and time. Several survey studies provided information on the distribution of happiness in regions (average level and inequality) as well as on regional correlates of happiness. Reports of these studies are scattered, and the data are often presented in incomparable ways. Some of them used measures of happiness that do not fit the concept of happiness as life-satisfaction. Findings based on acceptable measures of happiness are gathered in the World Database of Happiness and presented in a standard format and terminology on electronic ‘finding pages’. By September 2024, this archive held 7666 findings on happiness in regions and cities, of which 4373 distributional findings and 2293 correlational findings. In this article, I demonstrate how these findings can be assessed and be used in review studies. Not all the available findings are entered in the World Database of Happiness as yet: about half as much are on the waiting list. Entering the existing findings may add more to our understanding than adding new data to the pile. In this paper, I show how colleagues can do that. I also point out how they use the technique of this findings archive to build a separate database on Happiness in Regions.