IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/rp2005-06.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Measuring the Quality of Life Across Countries: a Sensitivity Analysis of Well-Being Indices

Author

Listed:
  • Tauhidur Rahman
  • Ron C. Mittelhammer
  • Philip Wandschneider

Abstract

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 well-being indicators are aggregated and weighted to arrive at composite measures of QOL.

Suggested Citation

  • Tauhidur Rahman & Ron C. Mittelhammer & Philip Wandschneider, 2005. "Measuring the Quality of Life Across Countries: a Sensitivity Analysis of Well-Being Indices," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2005-06, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:rp2005-06
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/rp2005-06.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sen, Amartya, 1981. "Public Action and the Quality of Life in Developing Countries," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 43(4), pages 287-319, November.
    2. Bloom, David E & Williamson, Jeffrey G, 1998. "Demographic Transitions and Economic Miracles in Emerging Asia," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 12(3), pages 419-455, September.
    3. Ettner, Susan L., 1996. "New evidence on the relationship between income and health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 67-85, February.
    4. David E. Bloom & Jeffrey D. Sachs, 1998. "Geography, Demography, and Economic Growth in Africa," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 29(2), pages 207-296.
    5. Bloom, David E. & Malaney, Pia N., 1998. "Macroeconomic consequences of the Russian mortality crisis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(11), pages 2073-2085, November.
    6. Jungeilges, Jochen & Kirchgassner, Gebhard, 2002. "Economic welfare, civil liberty, and suicide: an empirical investigation," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 215-231.
    7. B. Fine & K. Fine, 1974. "Social Choice and Individual Rankings II," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(4), pages 459-475.
    8. Des Gasper, 2002. "Is Sen's Capability Approach an Adequate Basis for Considering Human Development?," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 435-461.
    9. Hicks, Norman & Streeten, Paul, 1979. "Indicators of development: The search for a basic needs yardstick," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 7(6), pages 567-580, June.
    10. Lant Pritchett & Lawrence H. Summers, 1996. "Wealthier is Healthier," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 31(4), pages 841-868.
    11. Lee, Lung-Fei, 1982. "Health and Wage: A Simultaneous Equation Model with Multiple Discrete Indicators," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 23(1), pages 199-221, February.
    12. Luft, Harold S, 1975. "The Impact of Poor Health on Earnings," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 57(1), pages 43-57, February.
    13. 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.
    14. Ruut Veenhoven, 2000. "The Four Qualities of Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-39, March.
    15. Lars Osberg & Andrew Sharpe, 2010. "The Index of Economic Well-Being," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(4), pages 25-42.
    16. Eric Neumayer, 1999. "The ISEW -- not an Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 77-101, September.
    17. Storrs McCall, 1975. "Quality of life," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 229-248, September.
    18. Hicks, Norman L., 1979. "Growth vs basic needs: Is there a trade-off?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 7(11-12), pages 985-994.
    19. Kakwani, N., 1993. "Performance in living standards : An international comparison," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 307-336, August.
    20. Frijters, Paul, 2000. "Do individuals try to maximize general satisfaction?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 281-304, June.
    21. Neumayer, Eric, 2001. "The human development index and sustainability -- a constructive proposal," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 101-114, October.
    22. Dasgupta, Partha & Weale, Martin, 1992. "On measuring the quality of life," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 119-131, January.
    23. Joseph G. Hirschberg & Esfandiar Maasoumi & Daniel J. Slottje, 2001. "Clusters of attributes and well-being in the USA," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 445-460.
    24. Ram, Rati, 1982. "Composite indices of physical quality of life, basic needs fulfilment, and income : A principal component representation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 227-247, October.
    25. B. Fine & K. Fine, 1974. "Social Choice and Individual Ranking I," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(3), pages 303-322.
    26. repec:ems:euriss:23177 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Charles Perrings, 1998. "Income, Consumption and Human Development: Environmental Linkages," Human Development Occasional Papers (1992-2007) HDOCPA-1998-15, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    28. Slottje, Daniel J, 1991. "Measuring the Quality of Life across Countries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(4), pages 684-693, November.
    29. David E. Bloom & David Canning, 2004. "The Health and Wealth of Africa," World Economics, World Economics, 1 Ivory Square, Plantation Wharf, London, United Kingdom, SW11 3UE, vol. 5(2), pages 57-81, April.
    30. Miringoff, Marc L. & Miringoff, Marque-Luisa, 1999. "The Social Health of the Nation: How America is Really Doing," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195133493.
    31. Neumayer, Eric, 2004. "Sustainability and well-being indicators," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 30851, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    32. Miringoff, Marc L. & Miringoff, Marque-Luisa, 1999. "The Social Health of the Nation: How America is Really Doing," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195133486.
    33. Clark, Andrew E. & Oswald, Andrew J., 1998. "Comparison-concave utility and following behaviour in social and economic settings," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 133-155, October.
    34. Bloom, David & Craig, Patricia & Malaney, Pia N., 2001. "The Quality of Life in Rural Asia," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195924541.
    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. Elisabetta Segre & Tommaso Rondinella & Massimiliano Mascherini, 2011. "Well-Being in Italian Regions. Measures, Civil Society Consultation and Evidence," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 102(1), pages 47-69, May.
    2. Jörg Schimmel, 2009. "Development as Happiness: The Subjective Perception of Happiness and UNDP’s Analysis of Poverty, Wealth and Development," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 93-111, March.
    3. Rahman, Tauhidur & Mittelhammer, Ron C. & Wandschneider, Philip R., 2011. "Measuring quality of life across countries: A multiple indicators and multiple causes approach," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 43-52, February.
    4. Talita Greyling & Stephanié Rossouw, 2017. "Non-Economic Quality of Life and Population Density in South Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 1051-1075, December.
    5. Andrew Sharpe, 2004. "Literature Review of Frameworks for Macro-indicators," CSLS Research Reports 2004-03, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    6. Hasan, Lubna, 2007. "On Measuring the Complexity of Urban Living," MPRA Paper 7413, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Leßmann, Ortrud, 2011. "Empirische Studien zum Capability Ansatz auf der Grundlage von Befragungen: Ein Überblick," UFZ Discussion Papers 4/2011, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    8. Valérie Berenger & Cuauhtémoc Calderón Villarreal & Franck Celestini, 2009. "Modelling the Distribution of Multidimensional Poverty Scores: Evidence from Mexico," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 24(1), pages 3-34.
    9. Jaya Krishnakumar & A. Nagar, 2008. "On Exact Statistical Properties of Multidimensional Indices Based on Principal Components, Factor Analysis, MIMIC and Structural Equation Models," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 86(3), pages 481-496, May.
    10. Jerzy Michalek & Nana Zarnekow, 2012. "Application of the Rural Development Index to Analysis of Rural Regions in Poland and Slovakia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 105(1), pages 1-37, January.
    11. Gupta, Eshita, 2008. "Oil vulnerability index of oil-importing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 1195-1211, March.
    12. Guillermo Cruces & Andres Ham & Martin Tetaz, 2008. "Quality of Life in Buenos Aires Neighborhoods: Hedonic Price Regressions and the Life Satisfaction Approach," Research Department Publications 3260, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    13. AfDB AfDB, 2006. "Working Paper 83 - Are African Countries Richer Than They Are Developed? A Multidimensional Analysis of Well-Being," Working Paper Series 2217, African Development Bank.
    14. Ridha Chkoundali & Houda Haffoudhi & Houda Abdenneji, 2011. "Institutional Sphere Contribution to Human Development: An Institutional Approach," Working Papers 629, Economic Research Forum, revised 09 Jan 2011.
    15. Jerzy Michalek & Nana Zarnekow, 2012. "Construction and application of the Rural Development Index to analysis of rural regions," JRC Research Reports JRC72059, Joint Research Centre.
    16. Lessmann, Ortrud, 2012. "Applying the Capability Approach Empirically: An Overview with Special Attention to Labor," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 23(2), pages 98-118.
    17. Samaneh Khaef & Esfandiar Zebardast, 2016. "Assessing Quality of Life Dimensions in Deteriorated Inner Areas: A case from Javadieh Neighborhood in Tehran Metropolis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 761-775, June.
    18. Qazi Mahdia Ghyas & Fumiyo N. Kondo, 2016. "How Do Mobile Information Services Improve Quality of Life? The Case of Japanese Students," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 13(06), pages 1-19, December.
    19. Faith Martin, 2012. "Perceptions of Links Between Quality of Life Areas: Implications for Measurement and Practice," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 106(1), pages 95-107, March.
    20. Andrew Sharpe & Jeremy Smith, 2005. "Measuring the Impact of Research on Well-being: A Survey of Indicators of Well-being," CSLS Research Reports 2005-02, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    21. Stephanié Rossouw & Gail Pacheco, 2012. "Measuring Non-Economic Quality of Life on a Sub-National Level: A Case Study of New Zealand," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 439-454, June.
    22. Yeong Gug Kim & Yeasun Kate Chung & Eunju Woo, 2023. "Gig Workers’ Quality of Life (QoL) and Psychological Well-Being in Service Delivery Platform," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-13, May.
    23. Stephanié Rossouw & Wim Naudé, 2008. "The Non-Economic Quality of Life on a Sub-National Level in South Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 86(3), pages 433-452, May.
    24. AfDB AfDB, 2006. "Working Paper 83 - Are African Countries Richer Than They Are Developed? A Multidimensional Analysis of Well-Being," Working Paper Series 2297, African Development Bank.

    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. Rahman, Tauhidur & Mittelhammer, Ronald C. & Wandschneider, Philip R., 2003. "A Sensitivity Analysis Of Quality Of Life Indices Across Countries," 2003 Annual meeting, July 27-30, Montreal, Canada 22045, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    2. Rahman, Tauhidur & Mittelhammer, Ron C. & Wandschneider, Philip R., 2011. "Measuring quality of life across countries: A multiple indicators and multiple causes approach," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 43-52, February.
    3. Tauhidur Rahman, 2007. "Measuring the well-being across countries," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(11), pages 779-783.
    4. Ridha Chkoundali & Houda Haffoudhi & Houda Abdenneji, 2011. "Institutional Sphere Contribution to Human Development: An Institutional Approach," Working Papers 629, Economic Research Forum, revised 09 Jan 2011.
    5. Berenger, Valerie & Verdier-Chouchane, Audrey, 2007. "Multidimensional Measures of Well-Being: Standard of Living and Quality of Life Across Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1259-1276, July.
    6. Elizabeth Stanton, 2007. "The Human Development Index: A History," Working Papers wp127, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    7. repec:cte:whrepe:wp07-05 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Husain, Muhammad Jami, 2009. "Contribution of health to economic development: a survey and overview," Economics Discussion Papers 2009-40, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    9. Miles Cahill & Nicolás Sánchez, 2001. "Using principal components to produce an economic and social development index: An application to Latin America and the U.S," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 29(3), pages 311-329, September.
    10. Husain, Muhammad Jami, 2010. "Contribution of health to economic development: A survey and overview," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 4, pages 1-52.
    11. Partha Dasgupta, 1989. "Well-Being: Foundations, and the Extent of its Realization in Poor Countries," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-1989-080, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Mark McGillivray & Farhad Noorbakhsh, 2004. "Composite Indices of Human Well-being: Past, Present, and Future," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2004-63, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Andrew M. Jones & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Teresa Bago D’Uva & Silvia Balia & Lynn Gambin & Cristina Hernández Quevedo & Xander Koolman & Nigel Rice, 2006. "Health and Wealth: Empirical Findings and Political Consequences," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 7(s1), pages 93-112, May.
    14. Leandro Prados de la Escosura, 2010. "Improving Human Development: A Long‐Run View," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 841-894, December.
    15. Bloom, David E. & Canning, David & Sevilla, Jaypee, 2004. "The Effect of Health on Economic Growth: A Production Function Approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 1-13, January.
    16. David E. Bloom & David Canning & Jaypee Sevilla, 2001. "Economic Growth and the Demographic Transition," NBER Working Papers 8685, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Achin Chakraborty & Udaya Mishra, 2003. "Making Inter-country Comparison of Life Expectancy Inequality Sensitive," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 191-208, November.
    18. Mina Baliamoune-Lutz, 2004. "On the Measurement of Human Well-being: Fuzzy Set Theory and Sen's Capability Approach," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2004-16, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    19. Fay, Marianne & Leipziger, Danny & Wodon, Quentin & Yepes, Tito, 2005. "Achieving child-health-related Millennium Development Goals: The role of infrastructure," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1267-1284, August.
    20. Talita Greyling & Fiona Tregenna, 2017. "Construction and Analysis of a Composite Quality of Life Index for a Region of South Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 887-930, April.
    21. Rahman, Tauhidur & Mittelhammer, Ronald C. & Wandschneider, Philip R., 2004. "A Latent Variable Mimic Approach To Inferring The Quality Of Life," 2004 Annual meeting, August 1-4, Denver, CO 20351, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).

    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:unu:wpaper:rp2005-06. 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: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.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.