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8 Chapter 2 THE DISTRIBUTION OF WORLD HAPPINESS JOHN F. HELLIWELL, HAIFANG HUANG AND SHUN WANG John F. Helliwell, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia Haifang Huang, Department of Economics, University of Alberta Shun Wang, KDI School of Public Policy and Management, Korea The authors are grateful to the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and the KDI School for research support, and to the Gallup Organization for data access and assistance. In particular, several members of the Gallup staff helped in the development of Technical Box 3. The author are also grateful for helpful advice and comments from Ed Diener, Curtis Eaton, Carrie Exton, Leonard Goff, Carol Graham, Shawn Grover, Richard Layard, Guy Mayraz, Hugh Shiplett and Conal Smith. W O R L DH A P P I N E S SR E P O R T2 0 1 6| UP D AT E Introduction It is now almost four years since the publication of the firstWorld Happiness Report(WHR) in 2012. Its central purpose was to survey the scientific underpinnings of measuring and understanding subjective well-being. Its main content is as relevant today as it was then, and remains available for those now coming to the topic for the first time. The subsequentWorld Happiness Report 2013andWorld Happiness Report 2015, issued at roughly 18 month intervals, updated and extended this background.