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On the Measurement of Social Progress and Wellbeing: Some Further Thoughts

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  • Jean-Paul Fitoussi
  • Joseph E. Stiglitz

Abstract

Since 2008, the world has experienced several dramatic events: the financial crisis of 2007-08, the earthquake in Japan, the sovereign debt crisis and the revolutions in the Arab world. All of these developments have called into question not just our current policies, but also the measurement systems on which we base their configuration. What we measure affects what we do. Increasingly, there is a demand to go beyond measures of market activity (GDP) and towards measures of wellbeing. Reductions in wellbeing (following deteriorations in people's physical and psychological health, community life or employment status, or in the provision of environmental goods) that are accepted in the name of maximization of material wealth results in totally misguided policies. This article surveys some recent and clear instances in which our measurements have gone wrong, and suggests revisions that may translate into better informed and more sustainable policies.
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Suggested Citation

  • Jean-Paul Fitoussi & Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2013. "On the Measurement of Social Progress and Wellbeing: Some Further Thoughts," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 4(3), pages 290-293, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:glopol:v:4:y:2013:i:3:p:290-293
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/1758-5899.12072
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    1. Andrei Bougrov & Robert Johnson & Benno Ndulo & Pedro Paez & Avinash Persaud & Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul & Akhtar Aziz Zeti & Charles Goodhart & Jomo Kwame Sundaram & Youssef Boutros-Ghali & José Anto, 2010. "The Stiglitz Report," Working Papers hal-03415638, HAL.
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    Cited by:

    1. Montero, Rodrigo & Miranda, Álvaro, 2020. "The determinants of life satisfaction among Chilean workers," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
    2. Yue Qian & Wen Fan, 2019. "Men and Women at Work: Occupational Gender Composition and Affective Well-Being in the United States," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(7), pages 2077-2099, October.
    3. Francesco Sarracino & Luca Fumarco, 2020. "Assessing the Non-financial Outcomes of Social Enterprises in Luxembourg," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 425-451, September.
    4. Eduardo González & Ana Cárcaba & Juan Ventura, 2018. "Weight Constrained DEA Measurement of the Quality of Life in Spanish Municipalities in 2011," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 1157-1182, April.
    5. Sarracino, Francesco & Gosset, Andrea, 2015. "The non-economic outcomes of social entrepreneurship in Luxembourg," MPRA Paper 69347, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Ana Cárcaba & Eduardo González & Juan Ventura, 2017. "Social Progress in Spanish Municipalities (2001–2011)," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(4), pages 997-1019, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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