IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rev/reveca/v19y2011i2p123-148.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Quality Of Life Ranking Of Spanish Municipalities

Author

Listed:
  • EDUARDO GONZÁLEZ

    (Universidad de Oviedo)

  • ANA CÁRCABA

    (Universidad de Oviedo)

  • JUAN VENTURA

    (Universidad de Oviedo)

Abstract

Measuring the quality of life in municipalities entails two empirical challenges. First, collecting a set of relevant indicators that can be compared across the municipalities. Second, using an appropriate aggregating tool in order to construct a synthetic index. This paper measures the quality of life for the largest 643 Spanish municipalities using Value Efficiency Analysis (VEA). The indicators used cover aspects related to consumption, social services, housing, transport, environment, labour market, health, culture and leisure, education and security. Superefficiency VEA scores are also computed in order to construct a complete ordered ranking of the quality of life. The results show that the Northern and Central regions in Spain attain the highest levels of quality of life, while the Southern regions report low living conditions. It is also noticeable that none of the 10 biggest Spanish cities appear in the TOP50 ranking of quality of life.

Suggested Citation

  • Eduardo González & Ana Cárcaba & Juan Ventura, 2011. "Quality Of Life Ranking Of Spanish Municipalities," Revista de Economia Aplicada, Universidad de Zaragoza, Departamento de Estructura Economica y Economia Publica, vol. 19(2), pages 123-148, Autumn.
  • Handle: RePEc:rev:reveca:v:19:y:2011:i:2:p:123-148
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.revecap.com/revista/numeros/56/pdf/gonzalez_carcaba_ventura.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hashimoto, Akihiro & Ishikawa, Hitoshi, 1993. "Using DEA to evaluate the state of society as measured by multiple social indicators," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 257-268, December.
    2. B. Hollingsworth & P. Smith, 2003. "Use of ratios in data envelopment analysis," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(11), pages 733-735.
    3. Noelia Somarriba & Bernardo Pena, 2009. "Synthetic Indicators of Quality of Life in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 94(1), pages 115-133, October.
    4. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    5. Russell G. Thompson & F. D. Singleton & Robert M. Thrall & Barton A. Smith, 1986. "Comparative Site Evaluations for Locating a High-Energy Physics Lab in Texas," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 16(6), pages 35-49, December.
    6. R. Allen & A. Athanassopoulos & R.G. Dyson & E. Thanassoulis, 1997. "Weights restrictions and value judgements in Data Envelopment Analysis: Evolution, development and future directions," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 73(0), pages 13-34, October.
    7. Akihiro Hashimoto & Migaku Kodama, 1997. "Has Livability of Japan Gotten Better for 1956–1990?: a Dea Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 359-373, May.
    8. Pilar Murias & Fidel Martinez & Carlos Miguel, 2006. "An Economic Wellbeing Index for the Spanish Provinces: A Data Envelopment Analysis Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 77(3), pages 395-417, July.
    9. Zhu, Joe, 2001. "Multidimensional quality-of-life measure with an application to Fortune's best cities," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 263-284, December.
    10. Marshall, Elizabeth & Shortle, James, 2005. "Using DEA and VEA to Evaluate Quality of Life in the Mid-Atlantic States," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(2), pages 185-203, October.
    11. Blomquist, Glenn C & Berger, Mark C & Hoehn, John P, 1988. "New Estimates of Quality of Life in Urban Areas," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(1), pages 89-107, March.
    12. Gabriel, Stuart A. & Mattey, Joe P. & Wascher, William L., 2003. "Compensating differentials and evolution in the quality-of-life among U.S. states," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 619-649, September.
    13. Roback, Jennifer, 1982. "Wages, Rents, and the Quality of Life," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(6), pages 1257-1278, December.
    14. Sarrico, C. S. & Dyson, R. G., 2004. "Restricting virtual weights in data envelopment analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 159(1), pages 17-34, November.
    15. Merja Halme & Tarja Joro & Pekka Korhonen & Seppo Salo & Jyrki Wallenius, 1999. "A Value Efficiency Approach to Incorporating Preference Information in Data Envelopment Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(1), pages 103-115, January.
    16. P. Korhonen & A. Siljamaeki & M. Soismaa, 1998. "Practical Aspects of Value Efficiency Analysis," Working Papers ir98042, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.
    17. Steven C. Deller & Tsung-Hsiu (Sue) Tsai & David W. Marcouiller & Donald B.K. English, 2001. "The Role of Amenities and Quality of Life In Rural Economic Growth," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(2), pages 352-365.
    18. Easterlin, Richard A., 1974. "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 111773, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. R. D. Banker & A. Charnes & W. W. Cooper, 1984. "Some Models for Estimating Technical and Scale Inefficiencies in Data Envelopment Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(9), pages 1078-1092, September.
    20. Francisco Pedraja-Chaparro & Javier Salinas-Jimenez & Peter Smith, 1997. "On the Role of Weight Restrictions in Data Envelopment Analysis," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 215-230, May.
    21. Patrick L. Brockett & Boaz Golany, 1996. "Using Rank Statistics for Determining Programmatic Efficiency Differences in Data Envelopment Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(3), pages 466-472, March.
    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. Rajko Tomaš, 2022. "Measurement of the Concentration of Potential Quality of Life in Local Communities," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 79-109, August.
    2. Manuel de Maya Matallana & María López-Martínez & Prudencio José Riquelme-Perea, 2022. "Measurement of Quality of Life in Spanish Regions," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(1), pages 1-30, February.
    3. de Ayala, Amaia & Galarraga, Ibon & Spadaro, Joseph V., 2016. "The price of energy efficiency in the Spanish housing market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 16-24.
    4. Juan Martín & Cira Mendoza, 2013. "A DEA Approach to Measure the Quality-of-Life in the Municipalities of the Canary Islands," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 335-353, August.
    5. Giménez, Víctor & Ayvar-Campos, Francisco Javier & Navarro-Chávez, José César Lenin, 2017. "Efficiency in the generation of social welfare in Mexico: A proposal in the presence of bad outputs," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 43-52.
    6. Mariano, Enzo Barberio & Sobreiro, Vinicius Amorim & Rebelatto, Daisy Aparecida do Nascimento, 2015. "Human development and data envelopment analysis: A structured literature review," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 33-49.

    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. Eduardo González & Ana Cárcaba & Juan Ventura, 2011. "The Importance of the Geographic Level of Analysis in the Assessment of the Quality of Life: The Case of Spain," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 102(2), pages 209-228, June.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Marshall, Elizabeth & Shortle, James, 2005. "Using DEA and VEA to Evaluate Quality of Life in the Mid-Atlantic States," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(2), pages 185-203, October.
    5. Mariano, Enzo Barberio & Sobreiro, Vinicius Amorim & Rebelatto, Daisy Aparecida do Nascimento, 2015. "Human development and data envelopment analysis: A structured literature review," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 33-49.
    6. Vincenzo Patrizii & Anna Pettini & Giuliano Resce, 2017. "The Cost of Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(3), pages 985-1010, September.
    7. OA Carboni & P. Russu, 2014. "Measuring Environmental and Economic Efficiency in Italy: an Application of the Malmquist-DEA and Grey Forecasting Model," Working Paper CRENoS 201401, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.
    8. Tsuneyoshi, Takao & Hashimoto, Akihiro & Haneda, Shoko, 2012. "Quantitative evaluation of nation stability," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 132-154.
    9. Oliviero Carboni & Paolo Russu, 2015. "Assessing Regional Wellbeing in Italy: An Application of Malmquist–DEA and Self-organizing Map Neural Clustering," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 677-700, July.
    10. Hashimoto, Akihiro & Sugita, Takeshi & Haneda, Shoko, 2009. "Evaluating shifts in Japan's quality-of-life," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 263-273, December.
    11. Halme, Merja & Korhonen, Pekka, 2000. "Restricting weights in value efficiency analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 175-188, October.
    12. González, Eduardo & García, Vicente, 2006. "Using Value Efficiency Analysis (VEA) to Measure Productivity Efficiency in Primary Health Care," Efficiency Series Papers 2006/04, University of Oviedo, Department of Economics, Oviedo Efficiency Group (OEG).
    13. Zanella, Andreia & Camanho, Ana S. & Dias, Teresa G., 2015. "Undesirable outputs and weighting schemes in composite indicators based on data envelopment analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 245(2), pages 517-530.
    14. repec:rri:wpaper:200803 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. José Sobreiro Filho & Enzo Barberio Mariano & Vinicius Amorim Sobreiro & Charbel José Chiappetta Jabbour, 2016. "Beyond the Agrarian Reform Policies in Brazil: An Empirical Study of Brazilian States from 1995 Through 2011," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(3), pages 1093-1114, December.
    16. Pereira, Miguel Alves & Camanho, Ana Santos & Figueira, José Rui & Marques, Rui Cunha, 2021. "Incorporating preference information in a range directional composite indicator: The case of Portuguese public hospitals," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 294(2), pages 633-650.
    17. Tavana, Madjid & Ebrahimnejad, Ali & Santos-Arteaga, Francisco J. & Mansourzadeh, Seyed Mehdi & Matin, Reza Kazemi, 2018. "A hybrid DEA-MOLP model for public school assessment and closure decision in the City of Philadelphia," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 70-89.
    18. Rosa Puertas & Luisa Marti, 2019. "Sustainability in Universities: DEA-GreenMetric," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-17, July.
    19. Estellita Lins, M.P. & Moreira da Silva, A.C. & Lovell, C.A.K., 2007. "Avoiding infeasibility in DEA models with weight restrictions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 181(2), pages 956-966, September.
    20. Maribel Mojica & Tesfa Gebremedhin & Peter Schaeffer, 2008. "Valuing Community Attributes in Rural Counties in West Virginia: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis," Working Papers Working Paper 2008-03, Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University.
    21. T Joro & E-J Viitala, 2004. "Weight-restricted DEA in action: from expert opinions to mathematical models," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 55(8), pages 814-821, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    quality of life; welfare; municipalities; DEA; VEA;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • C60 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:rev:reveca:v:19:y:2011:i:2:p:123-148. 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: Ana Belén Gracia (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dhzares.html .

    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.