Richard Easterlin

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Richard A. Easterlin
Born	(1926-01-12)January 12, 1926 PhD)
Academic career
Field	Demography, Economic history, Economic growth, Happiness economics
Institution	University of Pennsylvania University of Southern California
Doctoral advisor	Simon Kuznets
Influences	Dorothy Thomas
Contributions	Easterlin hypothesis, Easterlin paradox, Happiness economics

Richard Ainley Easterlin (January 12, 1926 – December 16, 2024) was an American economist. A professor of economics at the University of Southern California, he is best known for the economic theory named after him, the Easterlin paradox. Another of his contributions is the Easterlin hypothesis about long waves of baby booms and busts.

Easterlin was born in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, on January 12, 1926.^[1] He studied engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering with Distinction in 1945. He then completed an MA in economics in 1949 and his Ph.D. in economics in 1953 both at the University of Pennsylvania.^[1]

He became interested in

and Dorothy Thomas.

Easterlin died in Pasadena, California on December 16, 2024, at the age of 98.^[2][3]

Whilst completing his postgraduate studies, Easterlin worked as instructor from 1948 to 1953 at the

Whilst at the University of Pennsylvania, Easterlin served as the chairman of the Department of Economics from 1958 to 1960, from 1961 to 1962 and in 1965 and 1968. He was also the associate dean for budget and planning of the University of Pennsylvania Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 1974 to 1979. He then moved to the University of Southern California in 1982 as a professor of economics and then university professor since 1999.

Easterlin was in particular known for his 1974 article "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence" and the Easterlin paradox which he argued that contrary to expectation, happiness at a national level does not increase with income over time. He is also known for the Easterlin hypothesis, which states that the relationship between income and fertility is dependent on relative income (income relative to aspirations).^[5]

Easterlin was a Fellow of the

in 2009, and received the Laureate Award from the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population in 2010.