IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v141y2019i3d10.1007_s11205-018-1869-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Global Advances in Quality of Life and Well-Being: Past, Present, and Future

Author

Listed:
  • Richard J. Estes

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • M. Joseph Sirgy

    (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)

Abstract

This paper documents global progress in human well-being since the end of World War II and, more specifically, since 1950. The paper focuses on the transformative changes in quality of life that have occurred over this period in four of the most critical sectors of well-being: the health, education, economic, and welfare sectors. We also consider the significant impact that changes in the natural environment have and continue to make on humanity. In all five sectors we also identify what we regard as the underlying “drivers” that have made these transformative changes in the human condition possible and suggest how the strength of these changes can be expected to contribute to the further enhancement of quality of life and well-being over at least the near term. In pursuing these objectives, we argued in favor of adopting a more positive view with respect to the advances in quality of life and well-being that have taken place since 1950.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard J. Estes & M. Joseph Sirgy, 2019. "Global Advances in Quality of Life and Well-Being: Past, Present, and Future," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 1137-1164, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:141:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-018-1869-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-018-1869-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-018-1869-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-018-1869-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philip Oreopoulos, 2006. "The compelling effects of compulsory schooling: evidence from Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(1), pages 22-52, February.
    2. Philip Oreopoulos, 2003. "Do Dropouts Drop Out Too Soon? International Evidence From Changes in School-Leaving Laws," NBER Working Papers 10155, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Lance Taylor, 2009. "Growth, Development Policy,Job Creation and Poverty Reduction," Working Papers 90, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
    4. Richard Estes, 2010. "The World Social Situation: Development Challenges at the Outset of a New Century," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 98(3), pages 363-402, September.
    5. Gupta, Sanjeev & Verhoeven, Marijn, 2001. "The efficiency of government expenditure: experiences from Africa," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 433-467, May.
    6. Psacharopoulos, George, 1994. "Returns to investment in education: A global update," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(9), pages 1325-1343, September.
    7. ., 2005. "Economics and the living environment," Chapters, in: Economics of Environmental Conservation, Second Edition, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Philip Oreopoulos, 2003. "Do Dropouts Drop Out Too Soon? Evidence from Changes in School-Leaving Laws," Working Papers oreo-03-01, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ying Cheng & Yuan Hu & Weizhong Zeng & Zhongbao Liu, 2022. "Farmer Heterogeneity and Land Transfer Decisions Based on the Dual Perspectives of Economic Endowment and Land Endowment," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-13, February.
    2. Cheng, Ying & Hu, Yuan & Zeng, Weizhong & Liu, Zhongbao, 2022. "Farmer heterogeneity and land transfer decisions based on the dual perspectives of economic endowment and land endowment," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 11(3).
    3. Hazem Ahmed Khairy & Yehia Elzek & Nadir Aliane & Mohamed Fathy Agina, 2023. "Perceived Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility Effect on Green Perceived Value and Green Attitude in Hospitality and Tourism Industry: The Mediating Role of Environmental Well-Being," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Mohsen Joshanloo & Veljko Jovanović & Tim Taylor, 2019. "A multidimensional understanding of prosperity and well-being at country level: Data-driven explorations," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-31, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Riddell, W. Craig & Song, Xueda, 2009. "The Causal Effects of Education on Adaptability," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-15, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 16 Feb 2009.
    2. Cabus, Sofie J. & De Witte, Kristof, 2011. "Does school time matter?—On the impact of compulsory education age on school dropout," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1384-1398.
    3. Justin Van Der Sluis & Mirjam Van Praag & Wim Vijverberg, 2008. "Education And Entrepreneurship Selection And Performance: A Review Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 795-841, December.
    4. Philip Oreopoulos, 2006. "Estimating Average and Local Average Treatment Effects of Education when Compulsory Schooling Laws Really Matter," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 152-175, March.
    5. Thomas Lemieux, 2014. "Occupations, fields of study and returns to education," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1047-1077, November.
    6. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2005. "Why the Apple Doesn't Fall Far: Understanding Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 437-449, March.
    7. Pillai N., Vijayamohanan & B. P., Asalatha, 2013. "Objectivizing the Subjective: Measuring Subjective Wellbeing," MPRA Paper 45005, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Grant Johnston, 2004. "Healthy, wealthy and wise? A review of the wider benefits of education," Treasury Working Paper Series 04/04, New Zealand Treasury.
    9. Pillai N., Vijayamohanan & B. P., Asalatha, 2012. "Women Empowerment: An Epistemic Quest," MPRA Paper 43859, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Young Hoon Lee & Ilhyeok Park, 2010. "Happiness and Physical Activity in Special Populations: Evidence From Korean Survey Data," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 11(2), pages 136-156, April.
    11. Di Tella, Rafael & Haisken-De New, John & MacCulloch, Robert, 2010. "Happiness adaptation to income and to status in an individual panel," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 834-852, December.
    12. Philip Oreopoulos & Marianne E. Page, 2006. "The Intergenerational Effects of Compulsory Schooling," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(4), pages 729-760, October.
    13. Oreopoulos, Philip, 2007. "Do dropouts drop out too soon? Wealth, health and happiness from compulsory schooling," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(11-12), pages 2213-2229, December.
    14. Pekkarinen, Tuomas, 2005. "Gender Differences in Educational Attainment: Evidence on the Role of the Tracking Age from a Finnish Quasi-Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 1897, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Philip Oreopoulos, 2006. "The compelling effects of compulsory schooling: evidence from Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 39(1), pages 22-52, February.
    16. Cristina Sechel, 2019. "Happier Than Them, but More of Them Are Happy:Aggregating Subjective Well-Being," Working Papers 2019008, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics.
    17. Black, Sandra E. & Devereux, Paul J. & Salvanes, Kjell G., 2004. "Fast Times at Ridgemont High? The Effect of Compulsory Schooling Laws on Teenage Births," IZA Discussion Papers 1416, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Mingliang Li, 2006. "High school completion and future youth unemployment: new evidence from High School and Beyond," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(1), pages 23-53, January.
    19. Laurent Lequien, 2007. "Education in France during World War II and Subsequent Mortality," Working Papers 2007-06, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    20. Jörn-Steffen Pischke & Till von Wachter, 2008. "Zero Returns to Compulsory Schooling in Germany: Evidence and Interpretation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(3), pages 592-598, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:141:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-018-1869-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.