Impact of Innovation on Happiness

This study examines the relation between national innovation and national happiness using cross-sectional data from 127 countries. Innovation is measured by the Innovation Output Sub-Index from the Global Innovation Index, whereas happiness is proxied by the Ladder Score in the 2024 World Happiness Report. To address potential endogeneity, we apply two-stage least squares estimation, using the Innovation Input Index as an instrument. The results suggest that innovation has a significant positive effect on happiness, particularly in countries with lower GDP per capita. However, the marginal benefit declines as income rises, becoming negligible or even negative beyond a GDP per capita of approximately USD 62,500. These findings suggest that innovation’s impact on national happiness varies systematically with economic development, with stronger effects observed in lower-income countries. This study contributes to the economics of happiness by identifying income-based heterogeneity in the innovation–happiness link and offering relevant policy insights.本研究基于127个国家的横截面数据，探讨国家层面创新与国民幸福感之间的关联。创新水平采用全球创新指数（Global Innovation Index）中的创新产出分指数进行衡量，而幸福感则以2024年《世界幸福报告》中的幸福阶梯得分作为代理变量。为解决潜在的内生性问题，本研究以创新投入分指数作为工具变量（instrument），采用两阶段最小二乘估计（two-stage least squares estimation）方法开展分析。研究结果表明，创新对幸福感具有显著的正向影响，这一效应在人均GDP较低的国家尤为突出。不过，边际收益会随收入水平提升而递减，当人均GDP超过约62500美元时，创新对幸福感的正向影响会变得微乎其微，甚至转为负向。上述发现显示，创新对国民幸福感的影响会随经济发展水平呈现系统性差异：在低收入国家中，创新的幸福感提升效应更为显著。本研究通过揭示创新与幸福感关联中基于收入的异质性特征，并提供相应的政策启示，丰富了幸福经济学领域的研究内容。