Kelsey J. O’Connor is a Senior Researcher in the Economics of Well-Being with STATEC Research (part of the national statistics office of Luxembourg). He is an Associate Editor (economics) for the Journal of Happiness Studies, IZA Research Fellow, Executive Board member of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS), past World Happiness Report author, member of the World Wellbeing Panel, and coauthor of The Happiness Revolution in Europe (Cambridge University Press).

His research focuses largely on assessing the causes and consequences of subjective well-being, or happiness, particularly in the fields: economic development, labor economics, and social policy. His goal is to contribute research leading to a redefinition of success in national discourse. As part of this goal, he cohosts STATEC Research’s Measuring Progress and Well-being Research Seminar (https://statistiques.public.lu/en/statistique-publique/statec/red/measuringprogress.html).

His work appears in prestigious journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Human Behavior, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Resources Policy, Economics & Human Biology, and has been covered by The Times, Financial Times, The Guardian, and The Atlantic, among others.

He completed a Ph.D. in economics in 2017 at the University of Southern California. In 2021, he received the Young Scholar Award from ISQOLS. In 2025, he received the Ruut Veenhoven award for excellence in happiness studies.