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The Multiple Uses of Subjective Well-Being Indicators

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  • Charles Seaford

Abstract

There are barriers to the significant use of subjective well-being indicators in policy making. These barriers can be overcome, but this will take a co-ordinated effort. These indicators can play multiple roles. They can stimulate public debate, inform the development of formal or informal economic models, influence the choice of other indicators more directly related to policy outcomes, draw attention to important issues which might otherwise be ignored, input into a new form of cost benefit analysis, be used in before and after appraisal, and be used by the public to hold politicians to account. Subjective indicators are better placed to play these roles than either dashboards or indexes based on objective indicators. It is not clear whether they will play these roles and two scenarios are possible. In the first, the relatively marginal role the indicators are beginning to play in policy will be expand, but they will not move centre stage, or in any way challenge existing headline indicators such as gross domestic product. In the second, a set of tools is developed which politicians and journalists find useful, both for communicating and for developing their ideas. In this scenario, the ideas implicit in subjective well-being indicators find their way into public debate and thus drive policy change. As a result they do challenge existing headline indicators. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Charles Seaford, 2013. "The Multiple Uses of Subjective Well-Being Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(1), pages 29-43, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:114:y:2013:i:1:p:29-43
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-013-0381-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Justin Wolfers, 2003. "Is Business Cycle Volatility Costly? Evidence from Surveys of Subjective Well‐Being," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(1), pages 1-26, March.
    2. Derek Bok, 2010. "The Politics of Happiness: What Government Can Learn from the New Research on Well-Being," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9107.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Venera Tomaselli & Mario Fordellone & Maurizio Vichi, 2021. "Building Well-Being Composite Indicator for Micro-Territorial Areas Through PLS-SEM and K-Means Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 407-429, January.
    3. Anna BAGIROVA & Olga NOTMAN, 2020. "The Well-Being Of Residents In An Urban Environment: The Case Of A Russian Megapolis," REVISTA ADMINISTRATIE SI MANAGEMENT PUBLIC, Faculty of Administration and Public Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 2020(35), pages 124-138, December.
    4. Olivier E. Malay, 2021. "How to Articulate Beyond GDP and Businesses’ Social and Environmental Indicators?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 1-25, May.
    5. Ray Biswas, Rahul & Rahman, Anisur, 2023. "Development and application of regional urban water security indicators," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    6. Olivier E. Malay, 2020. "How to articulate beyond GDP and businesses’ social and environmental indicators?," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2020014, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    7. Andrea Salustri & Federica Viganò, 2017. "A multistakeholder analysis of BES data: a focus on health in South Tyrol," BEMPS - Bozen Economics & Management Paper Series BEMPS39, Faculty of Economics and Management at the Free University of Bozen.
    8. Gwyther Rees, 2018. "The Association of Childhood Factors with Children’s Subjective Well-Being and Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties at 11 years old," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(4), pages 1107-1129, August.
    9. Olivier Malay, 2017. "Beyond GDP indicators: A tension between powerful stakeholders and transformative potential?," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2017018, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    10. Malay, Olivier E., 2019. "Do Beyond GDP indicators initiated by powerful stakeholders have a transformative potential?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 100-107.

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