Global Journal of Management and Business Research, B: Economics and Commerce, Volume 20 Issue 1

has value only when the demand for it exceeds the supply. Based on Gossen own logic, since the marginal utility declines as consumption, a good can have only a positive marginal utility. Thus, by its content, the first law is essential in the present analysis, because it takes into account the human behavior, pleasure, wants, even of a status of happiness. An aspect presented detailed in the 3 rd part is that one regarding the natural and human necessity for income and wealth. Now, only a single remark suggesting that the desire to increase income and wealth becomes a negative force in the pursuit of happiness, in the sense that more money/more jobs do not make you a happy person . To a careful radiography of all Gossen’s laws, it can be seen that the core of the theory of the German author is based on the terminological equality satisfaction=utility . Especially, it is highlighted the term of marginal utility (that is, exactly the last unit added from an economic good, which ensures the desired satisfaction). Also, the day-by-day realities around us show that, in a quasi-majority of cases, psychologically speaking, people with a high material standard, with substantial gains, plan to add marginal units to their assets. Before analyzing the opposite process of the diminishing marginal returns, we want to focus on the most important aspect of the daily life and an outstanding source of happiness: money and marginal utility of wealth (see Pettinger, 2018). More precisely, it’s about of the income earned by people. Gaining an increased amount of money, as salary or bonus, in the first stage, it involves the improving the standard of living. BUT, as the income/wealth grows, the more units of money added, the more desire to possess becomes stronger and the pleasure/benefit or even, the happiness, is much diminished. Indeed, the more you have, the greater desire to accumulate is greater, but the final human goal of unit body & soul is not reached. The money brings happiness as long as the individual comes out from poverty, famine and can afford a decent living, ensuring priority to general physiological needs, as stipulated on the first level (the basic one) of the Maslow Pyramid of Needs (Maslow, 1987). II. M ethodology The method used is that of a survey of theoretical works in this respect and, also, of the opinions of different categories of people, both from my own experience and specific activity and from magazines, news, even social media, concerning opinions of people and celebrities in different domains. Consequently, the synthesis is the next method used, in order to capture what it is defining in the human activity towards a status of satiety, happiness, either considering the marginal utility in diminishing, or increasing it in other cases, pursuing the same result. III. R eaching the H appiness also by I ncreasing the M arginal R eturns Continuing the idea from the final of the first part and strictly linked to the issue, the main questions that can be asked: are the people with a higher level of wealth happier than the others with low incomes? Is it real, or a fact, that an increase in incomes or wealth actually leads to increase happiness ? The second one, is the most important for the present analysis. People can get pleasure, satiety, money, positional goods, but all these don’t mean they are in a status of happiness. There are, exactly as in Maslow’s Hierarchy Pyramid of Needs , each person with its personality, degree of preparation A person could be poor, uneducated, living alone, and not be very attractive, but, psychologically speaking, still be happy, due to the consuming of added units in the desired proportion, or getting spiritual achievements (recognition/appreciation, a new status in the company or society and so on). Pursuing Happiness is, for the quasi-majority of the people, to reach and fulfill the desired (dreamed) goals (no matter the nature of this goal). Few are affirming that in first place they are looking for spiritual wealth or achievements (something apart from the cruel real world). The reverse action, that one of increasing marginal utility returns , for individuals, is illustrated by purchasing new units of positional/luxury commodities (only in strict limits of utility, not by a snobbish action), new qualitative scientific papers (for academicians and researchers), more medals and records for athletes and so on. What is the finalization of this scientific endeavor? It is to link the diminishing and increasing marginal utilty in the pursuit of happiness, maybe starting from the thought that reaching the goal or obtaining the desired goods the person will be happy. Often, this goal is, in the pursuit of a relationship, a new job, a certain amount of money, or great notoriety that we want; then we’ll be happy. Yet, the lesson of the tabloids is that the famous people who have many of the things we say we want aren’t happy themselves. But why? What’s going on here? Precisely because they reach the 5th level of the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs and they feel suffocated and bored by things, events, which they own, or which surround them. Among the methods leading to the status of happiness, or satiety, we consider that is that of knowing the general principles of kabbalah . And, starting from this point and along with Catch 22 meaning (www.businessdictionary.com) , we can highlight the The Marginal Diminishing Returns/Marginal Increasing Returns in the Pursuit of Happiness © 20 20 Global Journals 10 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XX Issue I Version I Year 2020 ( ) B importance of diminishing marginal returns and, continuing, to reach the happiness in the other sense,