“Beyond GDP” Effects on National Subjective Well-Being of OECD Countries

2016 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
pp. 931-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Cavalletti ◽  
Matteo Corsi
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Beyond Gdp

Beyond GDP: The Quest for a Measure of Social Welfare. Part II

2012 ◽  
pp. 32-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fleurbaey
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Welfare Economics ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Beyond Gdp

The second part of the paper is devoted to the non-monetary indicators of social welfare. Various approaches to the study of subjective well-being and happiness are described. The author shows what problems a researcher would encounter trying to analyze welfare on the micro-level and to take account of the cognitive and affective aspects of the individuals assessment of their well-being, as well as the relevance of social relations. The author also shows to what extent the alternative approaches, particularly the analysis of functionings and capabilities advanced by A. Sen are compatible to the modern welfare economics and what prospects the latter has.

scholarly journals Happiness and the role of social protection: how types of social spending affected individuals’ life satisfaction in OECD countries, 1980–2012

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Oda Nordheim ◽  
Pål E. Martinussen
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Social Expenditure ◽  
Individual Determinants ◽  
Negative Impacts

ABSTRACTThe growing literature on individual determinants of subjective well-being has given little attention to political factors. This paper considers the welfare state, and how social expenditure affects individuals’ self-reported life satisfaction. The statistical analysis uses indicators of subjective well-being, reflecting individuals from OECD-countries between 1980 and 2012, with data gathered from the Eurobarometer and the World Values Survey - which are analysed in comparison. The results suggest that social spending should be studied in terms of underlying branches when addressing its implications. The results find social spending to be uncorrelated with levels of subjective well-being when considered in terms of total levels. When considered as types of spending however, a majority of the elements are found to have significant impacts. The findings show mixed results among the two data sets; however, important similarities are found in the way social spending related to health care and poverty are having positive impacts, and spending associated with unemployment and labour market programmes have negative impacts. As the correlations of the underlying elements affect life satisfaction in different directions, total social spending appears to be uncorrelated with subjective well-being, although the true impact depends on which socialpolicies are being promoted through such spending.

Democratic Institutions and Subjective Well-Being

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 685-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Altman ◽  
Patrick Flavin ◽  
Benjamin Radcliff
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Systematic Study ◽  
Real World ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Robust Evidence

We examine how differences in how democracy is institutionalized affect life satisfaction across nations. To our knowledge, this is the first rigorous, systematic study of this subject. Using data for 21 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries from 1981 to 2008, we find robust evidence that citizens report living more satisfying lives in countries with a parliamentary (rather than presidential) executive, a proportional representation electoral system (as opposed to single member districts), and a unitary (rather than federal) governmental structure. Moreover, the findings suggest that the real-world consequences for these types of democratic institutions for human well-being are substantial, rivaling or exceeding other common predictors. We conclude with a discussion of the practical and theoretical implications of the results.

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