Guest of Thursday Seminar is Dr. Emel MIRZA
Euroasia Socio-Economic Research Association (ASEAD) hosted Dr. Emel MIRZA of Faculty of Economis and Administrative Sciences of Selcuk University at the Thursday Seminar held online on March 18, 2021. Dr. MIRZA shared her dissertation entitled “Sustainable Development with Happiness Economics Approach” with the participants.
Dr. Emel MIRZA completed his undergraduate study in Economics at Bilkent University. Dr. MIRZA received her master’s degree in Economics at Bilkent University on “Access to Credit and Self Employment.” Dr. MIRZA was awarded the PhD Degree in Economics in August 2020 by Selcuk University with her thesis entitled “Sustainable Development with Happiness Economics Approach”. Dr. MIRZA has been teaching in the Department of Economics at Selcuk University since 2007.
Dr. Emel MIRZA, in her dissertation, investigated the effects of sustainability-related practices on subjective well-being. The basic idea in sustainable development is to be able to provide a development such that social welfare, which is defined as the sum of individuals’ utilities, will not diminish over time. Since welfare is a function of not only the goods and services in the market, but also of leisure facilities, benefits from natural capital, social capital and changes in human capital, in order to ensure sustainable development, the interactions of all these factors should be taken into consideration. The happiness economics, as an approach that combines the techniques used by economists to assess welfare with the more commonly used techniques by psychologists, emphasizes the role of non-income factors affecting welfare and is based on a wider concept of welfare compared to the traditional economy. In this study, data of 112 countries taking place in World Values Survey are analysed with ordered probit method. The results show that besides economic capital, other types of capital also have positive effects on subjective well-being; decreasing working hours can increase subjective well-being in countries above a certain income level; as the share of public health expenditures in a country increases, subjective well-being also increases; men have less life satisfaction than women do; being divorced decreases the life satisfaction; and the increases in the Environmental Performance Index increases the life satisfaction.
ASEAD Chairman Prof. Dr. Ibrahim ORNEK thanked Dr. Emel MIRZA for her presentation and emphasized the importance of sharing this kind of quality work with other academicians, policy makers and the public at various places, in various formats, such as presentations or a book. Prof. ORNEK mentioned that the concept of “happiness” may mean different for each individual, while some people seeking happines in the past, some may hope to catch it in the future; even though we have better means and tools nowadays, compared to 45-50 years ago, current happiness level, suprisingly, at a low level; therefore, easy access to many things affects the level of happiness negatively.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Metin YILDIRIM, faculty of International Trade and Finance Department at Necmettin Erbakan University, thanked Dr. Emel MIRZA for her work. Dr. YILDIRIM said that this study should not be one of the forgotten studies on the dusty shelves and believed that Mevlana Development Agency would be willing to publish this work as a book. Dr. YILDIRIM reminded us not to ignore the relation between religious values and happiness, that religious teachings would help us know the value of what we have and increase the appreciation, hence, the level of happiness; that dissertations on this topic are needed in the academia.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Mustafa GUNALAN, an ASEAD Board member, pointed that “happiness” and “satisfaction” concepts are generally misinterpreted; while the concept of “satisfaction” is a short-lived feeling, the concept of “happiness” implies a cumulative feeling from the birth untill the current time. In his example, Dr. GUNALAN explained that being a father would make a person “happy,” but this duty or process may involve trouble, hardship, sadness and joy, as well.
Prof. Dr. Seyhan TAS, ASEAD Vice President, congratulated Dr. Emel MIRZA for her contribution to the literature with abstract topics such as happiness and life satisfaction. Prof. TAS explained that economic models affect the definition of concepts, including “happiness” in this case and the approach utilized in this dissertation is no different; and Dr. GUNALAN’s comment should be considered from this perspective.
ASEAD Chairman Prof. Dr. Ibrahim ORNEK thanked Dr. Emel MIRZA for her presentation, and participants for their participation; ending the seminar by inviting participants to the coming one.