摘要：In this paper, researchers analyze the influence of functional government spending on satisfaction with life in EU countries. The main problem arises from the theoretical conflict between the traditional view of welfare economists, which states that the government is responsible for maximization of social welfare through reallocation of resources against studies proving that government spending has negative effects on social welfare, as the government is not effective in resource reallocation. Research under this topic discloses contradicting results on the effect of functional government expenditures on wellbeing, which leaves a place for more in-depth researches on this topic. Does government spending have any effect on one’s wellbeing? Does increase in functional spending increase the level of wellbeing? Are there any limitations on government spending? The research compares data of 26 EU countries using graphical and linear regression analysis to answer these questions and to see if there are any turning points, which would show that changes in government spending may have a contrary effect on wellbeing.
关键词：subjective wellbeing; happiness; government functional spending; welfare economics
