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Beyond GDP: Measuring Economic Well-Being in Canada and the Provinces, 1981-2010

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  • Lars Osberg
  • Andrew Sharpe

Abstract

This report presents new estimates of the Index of Economic Well-being (IEWB) and its four domains (consumption flows, stocks of wealth, economic equality and economic security) for Canada and the provinces for the 1981-2010 period. It finds that the IEWB advanced at a 0.78 per cent average annual growth rate over the period, below the 1.32 per cent growth for GDP per capita. Both the consumption and wealth domains experienced solid advances over the period, but these developments were offset by declines in the equality and economic security domains. The recent recession caused a decline in the IEWB for Canada, driven by declines in wealth and economic security.

Suggested Citation

  • Lars Osberg & Andrew Sharpe, 2011. "Beyond GDP: Measuring Economic Well-Being in Canada and the Provinces, 1981-2010," CSLS Research Reports 2011-11, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    • Handle: RePEc:sls:resrep:1111
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    File URL: http://www.csls.ca/reports/csls2011-11.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rafael Di Tella & Robert J. MacCulloch & Andrew J. Oswald, 2003. "The Macroeconomics of Happiness," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 809-827, November.
    2. Andrew Sharpe & Lars Osberg, 2009. "New Estimates of the Index of Economic Well-being for Canada and the Provinces, 1981 - 2008," CSLS Research Reports 2009-10, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    3. Romina Boarini & Åsa Johansson & Marco Mira d'Ercole, 2006. "Alternative Measures of Well-Being," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 476, OECD Publishing.
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    5. Lars Osberg & Andrew Sharpe, 2001. "Trends in Economic Well-being in Canada in the 1990s," The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress, in: Andrew Sharpe, Executive Director & France St-Hilaire, Vice-President , Research & Keith Banting, Di (ed.), The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress 2001: The Longest Decade: Canada in the 1990s, volume 1, Centre for the Study of Living Standards;The Institutute for Research on Public Policy.
    6. Lars Osberg & Andrew Sharpe, 2002. "International Comparisons of Trends in Economic Well-being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 349-382, June.
    7. Andrew Sharpe & Jean-François Arsenault & Alexander Murray & Sharon Qiao, 2008. "The Valuation of the Alberta Oil Sands," CSLS Research Reports 2008-07, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    8. Andrew Sharpe & Jean-François Arsenault, 2009. "Living Standards Domain of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing," CSLS Research Reports 2009-04, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    9. Andrew Sharpe & Lars Osberg, 2009. "New Estimates of the Index of Economic Well-being for Selected OECD Countries, 1981 - 2007," CSLS Research Reports 2009-11, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    10. Romina Boarini & Åsa Johansson & Marco Mira d'Ercole, 2006. "Alternative Measures of Well-Being," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 33, OECD Publishing.
    11. Lars Osberg & Andrew Sharpe, 2010. "The Index of Economic Well-Being," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(4), pages 25-42.
    12. Lars Osberg, 2009. "Measuring Economic Security in Insecure Times: New Perspectives, New Events, and the Index of Economic Well-being," CSLS Research Reports 2009-12, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    13. Lars Osberg & Andrew Sharpe, 2002. "An Index of Economic Well–Being for Selected OECD Countries," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 48(3), pages 291-316, September.
    14. Jean Gadrey & Florence Jany-Catrice, 2004. "Prendre la mesure du progrès: quels indicateurs ?," Post-Print halshs-00282281, HAL.
    15. Lars Osberg & Andrew Sharpe, 2005. "How Should We Measure The “Economic” Aspects Of Well‐Being?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 51(2), pages 311-336, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrew Sharpe & John Tsang, 2019. "A Detailed Analysis of Newfoundland and Labrador's Productivity Performance, 1997-2018," CSLS Research Reports 2019-06, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    2. Mathieu Dufour & Ellen Russell, 2015. "Why Isn't Productivity More Popular? A Bargaining Power Approach to the Pay/Productivity Linkage in Canada," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 28, pages 47-62, Spring.
    3. Andrew Sharpe & Etienne Grand'Maison, 2013. "A Detailed Analysis of Newfoundland and Labrador's Productivity Performance, 1997-2010: The Impact of the Oil Boom," CSLS Research Reports 2013-05, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    4. Don Drummond & Evan Capeluck & Matthew Calver, 2015. "The Key Challenge for Canadian Public Policy: Generating Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth," CSLS Research Reports 2015-11, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    5. Kar-Fai Gee, 2015. "Development of Estimates for Household Production of Non-Market Services in OECD Countries for the Index of Economic Well-Being," CSLS Research Reports 2015-09, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    6. Jasmin Thomas & James Uguccioni, 2016. "A Tepid Recovery: The Index of Economic Well-Being for Canada and the Provinces, 1981-2014," CSLS Research Reports 2016-05, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    7. Brendon Andrews, 2015. "Sensitivity of the Index of Economic Well-Being to Different Measures of Poverty: LICO vs LIM," CSLS Research Reports 2015-10, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    well-being; economic measurement; IEWB; consumption; wealth; equality; economic security;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

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