Connecting Growth with Development and Income with Sustainability, Education, and Employment of Global Powerhouses - A SEDA Perspective

Purpose: This paper aims to depict the recent initiation to evaluate the efficiency of a nation in converting wealth to well-being in terms of Sustainable Economic Development Assessment scores (SEDA) specially analyzed for the global powerhouse countries accommodating 78% of the world’ population and 87% of countries income. Design/Methodology/Approach: SEDA (Sustainable Economic Development Assessment) measures sustainable development with three broad dimensions: economic, sustainability, and environment. The analysis is carried out by plotting a four-quadrant matrix chart to compare some macro-economic fundamentals. Countries Considered: 36 Powerhouse countries of the world (78% of the world’s population and 87% of countries’ income). Variables Considered: GDP/Capita, Wealth to well-being coefficient, SEDA score, employment (Employment has unemployment and employment to population ratio 15 plus), education (school enrollment, tertiary, years of school primary to tertiary, teacher-pupil ratio primary and an average of math and science score), equality (Gini index, inequality in education and inequality in life expectancy) and finally environment (air quality, terrestrial and marine protected areas, carbon dioxide intensity and electricity production from renewable sources). Findings: The analysis depicts how good a country is in converting their wealth to well-being. The countries that have started well do not necessarily have depicted outstanding progress in Sustainable economic development assessment. Some countries are good in growth and increasing their developmental scores (keeping in mind BCG identified parameters of sustainable development). Further comparisons express a high positive correlation between GDP/Capita with education and equality. There is a very low degree of correlation between GDP/Capita and employment and a low correlation between GDP/Capita and environment. However, there is a negative correlation between Growth and development. Practical Application: Relation between GDP/Capita of countries and some important economic, investment, and sustainability dimensions to judge where a nation stands and what should be added as a prelim agenda to countries dashboard.