From Transfer Agents to Transfer Institutions: The Internationalisation of the Concept of Gross National Happiness

On 19 July 2011, and in its 65th session, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted “Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development” as a resolution (UN, 2011). The UN recognized that GDP did not adequately reflect the happiness and well-being of the people, and that the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal. The resolution passed by the UN General Assembly welcomed the o er of Bhutan to convene during the following session of the General Assembly a panel discussion on the theme of happiness and well-being. In this paper, we analyse how the policy of “happiness”, more specifically Bhutan’s development philosophy of GNH, became an international policy agenda through the UN’s resolution to pursue happiness as a goal. Despite its size and development status, Bhutan is able to play a major role in agenda-setting of happiness at an international level. We argue that this unique case of how a global South country can be a successful policy transfer agent is through the role of institutions and how these institutions enabled Bhutan to be a transfer agent. In our study we show that the government acts as a transfer agent in this case, and it primarily acts through two key institutions: the Centre for Bhutan Studies (CBS) and the GNH Commission (GNHC). This study delves deeper into the role of institutions and examines how their establishment enables them to act as transfer agents. The setting up of policy transfer institutions, such as, the CBS and GNHC in Bhutan, provides them with the mandate and resources to facilitate policy transfer process.