Dr. Sonia de Lucas Santos is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business of Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), She received her Ph.D. in Economics from UAM and Bachelor in Economics and Business Administration from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M). Her research fields are economic development and growth; cyclical indicators and convergence; energetic efficiency; public policies and globalization; along with quantitative methods and advanced statistics. She has participated in numerous research projects financed by Ministries and Public Institutions. She is the main researcher in the research group on Economic and Social Analysis of Happiness Group (GEHappiness ) of UAM.