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Inequality-Adjusted Happiness (IAH) in nations by year in data file ‘Trends in Nations’

Inequality-adjusted happiness is an index which denotes the degree to which a country combines a high average level of happiness with low inequality in happiness. The index gives equal weight to level and inequality of happiness.
Theoretical range is between 0 and 100.
Computation: IAH = 4 + 9.6 M – 3.97 SD, where: M is mean and SD is the standard deviation of a happiness distribution.
The concept and computation is discussed in Veenhoven, R. & Kalmijn, W. (2005) Inequality adjusted happiness in nations. Egalitarianism and utilitarianism married together in a new index of societal performance.

Variant
Description
Code (1)
Nation
Since
Source
Trend average happiness in nations +
Trend inequality of happiness in nations
Inequality-adjusted
happiness
Computed from M-hl3_us and SD-hl3_usIAH_usUSA1946
Inequality-adjusted
life satisfaction
Computed from M-ls4_be and SD-ls4_beIAH_beBelgium1973
Computed from M-ls4_de and SD-ls4_deIAH_deGermany (re-united)1990
Computed from M-ls4_dee and SD-ls4_deeIAH_deeGermany (former East)1990
Computed from M-ls4_dew and SD-ls4_dewIAH_dewGermany (former West)1973
Computed from M-ls4_dk and SD-ls4_dkIAH_dkDenmark1973
Computed from M-ls4_eu8 and SD-ls4_eu8IAH_eu8EU-8 (2)1973
Computed from M-ls4_fr and SD-ls4_frIAH_frFrance1973
Computed from M-ls4_gr and SD-ls4_grIAH_grGreece1981
Computed from M-ls4_ie and SD-ls4_ieIAH_ieIreland1973
Computed from M-ls4_it and SD-ls4_itIAH_itItaly1973
Computed from M-ls45_jp and SD-ls45_jpIAH_jpJapan1958
Computed from M-ls4_lu and SD-ls4_luIAH_luLuxemburg1973
Computed from M-ls4_nl and SD-ls4_nlIAH_nlNetherlands1973
Computed from M-ls4_pt and SD-ls4_ptIAH_ptPortugal1985
Computed from M-ls4_sp and SD-ls4_spIAH_spSpain1985
Computed from M-ls4_uk and SD-ls4_ukIAH_ukUK (Great Britain)1973

1) Variable codes consist of two elements:
– IAH for inequality adjusted happinesss in the nation
– Nation code (two digit ISO code e.g., ‘be’ for Belgium)

2) Weighted average: EU-8 = Belgium x 0.037423 + Denmark x 0,19263 + France x 0,213337 + West-Germany x 0,243826 + Italy x 0,211549 + Luxembourg x 0,0001503 + Netherlands x 0,056975 + UK x 0,216118

Same variable in data file ‘States of Nations’: Inequality-adjusted happiness

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