This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive analysis of interrelationships among the determinants of the Quality of Life (QOL). We show that various measures of well-being are highly sensitive to domains of QOL that are considered in the construction of comparative indices, and how measurable inputs into the well-being indicators are aggregated and weighted to arrive at composite measures of QOL. We present a picture of conditions among the 43 countries of the world with respect to such interrelated domains of QOL as the relationship with family and friends, emotional well-being, health, work and productivity, material well-being, feeling part of one's community, personal safety, and the quality of environment. On the basis of Borda Rule and the principal components approach, we search for factor-indices that may function as QOL indices comparatively across countries. Such indices can be useful in making QOL comparisons and evaluations with reference to both time and place. Comparing and analyzing well-being conditions among countries in this way are aimed at facilitating the discovery of extant of problems with government policies impacting QOL.
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Paper provided by American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association) in its series 2003 Annual meeting, July 27-30, Montreal, Canada with number
22045.
Length: Date of creation: 2003 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea03:22045
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References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
David E. Bloom & David Canning, 2004.
"The Health and Wealth of Africa,"
World Economics,
World Economics, Economic & Financial Publishing, PO Box 69, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, RG9 1GB, vol. 5(2), pages 57-81, April.
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