22 November 2013. Under the heading of "Happiness Around the World: An Introduction to the Scientific Evidence", Andrew Oswald’s Walter Adolf Jöhr Lecture will analyse how a nation’s happiness and well-being can be measured and which countries are thus among the happiest. In addition, the lecture will provide an overview of current scientific knowledge in happiness research.

Abstract of the lecture
"There is growing interest in how to measure the true happiness and well-being of a nation. In the modern world, indicators such as national income (GDP) are increasingly seen as out-of-date. This lecture will explain the latest scientific thinking, describe the new ideas being used by governments and researchers, list the really happy countries, and summarize what is understood about the determinants of the happiness of a country. The lecture is designed for a general audience. It will be in everyday English and non-technical."

Award-winning academic
Prof. Dr. Andrew Oswald was born in 1953 and read economics at the University of Stirling, the University of Strathclyde and Oxford University. After he obtained his doctor’s degree, he was involved in research and teaching at the University of Oxford, Princeton University, Stockholm University, the London School of Economics, Dartmouth College, the National Bureau of Economic Research, Harvard University, Cornell University and the University of Zurich. Since 1996, he has been a professor at the University of Warwick. From May 2011 to December 2012, he was Visiting Research Fellow and Acting Director of Research at the IZA (Institute for the Study of Labor) in Bonn.

In his academic career, Andrew Oswald first primarily focused on labour economics. Later, he began to conduct research in the border areas between economics, epidemiology and psychology. He won various awards for his work in economics and social science, among them the Lester Prize of Princeton University for his book The Wage Curve (MIT Press) and an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) professorship in the UK.

Public lecture
The lecture will take place on Friday, 22 November 2013, from 11.15 a.m. in Room 09-010 (Audimax) in the Library Building of the University of St.Gallen. It is open to the public and will be given in English. Admission will be free.