scholarly journals Well-Being as Human Development, Equality, Happiness and the Role of Freedom, Activism, Decentralization, Volunteerism and Voter Participation: A Global Country-Level Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas D. Perkins ◽  
Mehmet Reha Ozgurer ◽  
Andrew Lupton ◽  
Shadi Omidvar-Tehrani
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Fiscal Decentralization ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
National Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Voter Participation ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Average Life Expectancy ◽  
Country Level

We propose and test a new model for predicting multiple quantitative measures of well-being globally at the country level based on the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), income inequality (Net Gini), and National Happiness Index (NHI; U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network world survey of life satisfaction). HDI consists of per-capita Gross National Income (economic well-being), average life expectancy (proxy for health well-being), and educational attainment (capabilities well-being). Using data on 105 countries representing 95% of the world’s population, a history of grassroots activism (Global Non-violent Action Database), civil liberties and political rights (Freedom Score), political and fiscal decentralization, and voter participation (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance) correlate with HDI and NHI. Citizen volunteering (Gallup Civic Engagement Index) predicts only NHI. In multivariate analyses, Freedom Score is the most robust predictor of all well-being measures, including income equality. Fiscal decentralization and voter turnout also predict HDI and NHI, controlling for other influences. Based on prior analyses in the Global Development of Applied Community Studies project, implications and recommendations are discussed for developing community human research and professional resources across 12 disciplines in countries where they are needed based on social justice, citizenship, well-being, inequality, human rights, and other development challenges. We recommend individual and community-level and qualitative analyses of the above predictors’ relationships with these same conceptualizations of well-being, as well as consideration of other social, cultural and political variables and their effect on well-being.

scholarly journals HUMAN RESOURCES AS A FACTOR OF PROVIDING UKRAINE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM IN MODERN CONDITIONS

2019 ◽  
pp. 124-132
Author(s):  
N. I. Stavnycha
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Human Development ◽  
National Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The State ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Security Level ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Life Expectancy At Birth

The purpose of the article is to research and analyze indicators that directly effect on the level of country’s human resources development, and assessment of Ukraine’s rating place among other countries. The following methods of scientific research, such as generalization, comparison and analysis were used to achieve the goal. The attention is focused on the fact that in conditions of post-industrial economy, the role of human and its knowledge increase, resulting in implementing the human development concept. This concept is aimed at forming measures to prevent the population impoverishment, unemployment, loss of health by stimulating human development, increasing its role in society, and, at the same time, increasing responsibility to society. The main task of the concept is to ensure the welfare of the person. The article shows the comparative assessment of Ukraine’s ranking among other countries  according to the human development index and its components. The following indicators such as gross national income per capita, average and expected duration of training, average life expectancy at birth were analyzed. It was agreed that economic ability to create and use human resources to a greater extent determines human well-being and is the main criteria for assessing the social security level. Since the background for well-being is income, education, and human health, social security becomes an integrating link between the modern concept of human development and the state social policy. In this manner, everything that reduces welfare, harms a particular person and society as a whole are factors that threaten social security. In this context human resources emerged as a key resource to the state development.

scholarly journals Expenditure Decentralization: Does It Make Us Happier? An Empirical Analysis Using a Panel of Countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7236
Author(s):  
Leonardo E. Letelier-S ◽  
José L. Sáez-Lozano
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Fiscal Decentralization ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Government ◽  
Decentralization Of Education ◽  
Data Level

This paper analyzes whether fiscal decentralization of education, health, housing, social protection, recreation, culture and religion, public order and safety, and transportation have a significant effect on individual well-being. The empirical analysis is based on a non-linear hierarchical model that combines individual data (level 1) with country-level data (level 2). We match 89,584 observations from the World Value Service and the European Value Service (various years) with the average value of data recorded for 30 countries by the Government Financial Statistics (IMF). While fiscal decentralization in education and housing appears to have a negative effect on well-being, this effect is positive in the cases of health and culture and recreation. We interpret this as evidence in favor of a “selective” decentralization approach.

scholarly journals Ubuntu and Capabilities Approach: Basic Doctrines for Calibrating Humanitarian Action

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 12-19
Author(s):  
Mashele Rapatsa
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Philosophy Of Life ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
Post Disaster

AbstractThis article explores prospects of using Ubuntu and Capabilities Approach to expand the scope of humanitarian action, to design one which serves humanity better even in the absence of disaster to essentially fulfil human development needs. It is considerate of the fact that humanitarian works contributes immensely in determining the extent to which humanity thrives. The traditional view on humanitarianism presupposes action-driven initiatives geared towards devising interventions to restore or reinforce human social order, improve livelihoods and quality of life. In sociological terms, human development is dependent on realizing and safeguarding, amongst others, human well-being, civil liberties and social security. The article utilizes core values enshrined in Ubuntu, Africa’s historic philosophy of life, and Amartya Sen’s Capabilities Approach as tools of analysis, with the view to expressing how to operationalize what should be considered stable humanitarian conditions and human well-being. Owing to persistent socio-economic challenges, especially the poverty problem, it is asserted that humanitarian action ought to depart from being a post-disaster intervention strategy, to being a pro-active and preventative pre-disaster orientated action, intended to nurture well-being and resultantly enable human development.

scholarly journals The Relationships between Enterprise Restructuring and Economic Growth / Human Development Level in Central Asian Republics

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mine Gerni ◽  
Ş. Mustafa Ersungur ◽  
Dilek Özdemir ◽  
Ömer Selçuk Emsen
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Enterprise Restructuring ◽  
Political Independence ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Qualitative Variables ◽  
Central Asian Republics ◽  
Comprehensive Indicator

Considering the performance of growth, it is observed that the Central Asian Turkish republics achieved their income levels of 1991, the year they gained political independence, very lately as compared to the other transition economies. It is argued that those factors such as enterprise restructuring and insufficient political rights and individual freedoms came into play for their failure. Thus, it can be said that reflections which are described as economic growth flourishes privately from the lack of entrepreneurship, and also lack of entrepreneurship stems mostly from insufficient libertarian structures. In this paper, enterprise restructuring and price liberalization values published periodically by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the indicators of political rights and civil liberties published by Freedom House are taken into consideration, and the effects of these on economic growth and/or on human development as a much comprehensive indicator are investigated. In this perspective, instead of the effects of quantitative variables, the effects of four important qualitative variables on Central Asian Republics’ growth/human development are studied.

scholarly journals How Taxes Relate to Potential Welfare Gain and Appreciable Economic Growth

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sorana Vatavu ◽  
Oana-Ramona Lobont ◽  
Petru Stefea ◽  
Daniel Brindescu-Olariu
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Granger Causality ◽  
National Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Causality Analysis ◽  
Tax Reforms ◽  
Tax Revenues ◽  
Social And Economic Development

This paper investigates new insights into the effect taxation has on the welfare state, using Granger causality analysis, and focusing on both economic growth and human development as welfare components. Moreover, Granger causality allows us to determine whether or not there is a bidirectional causal relationship between taxes, growth, and human development. The analysis is based on a comparative study between part of the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries and the richest European Countries, over the period 1995–2015. Taxes are illustrated by different types of tax revenues to GDP ratio, economic growth is defined by gross domestic product and gross national income, while the human development index (HDI) included in the analysis is a composite measure used to rank countries based on their social and economic development level. Results confirm the fact that taxes support economic growth, but their impact on human development is rather limited. However, in countries with higher HDI, an increase in tax revenues is expected, but over long-term. This study confirms that taxes are an important instrument for governments, and should be used in economic growth. In addition, taxes are closely related to well-being, as citizens from countries with large HDI values are more likely to pay higher taxes over time. Therefore, practical tax reforms should imply an equilibrium between equity and a decent standard of living that supports life expectancy, increased tax revenues, and efficiency.

Internet Adoption in the Post-Communist Countries

MedienJournal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 64-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela V. Dimitrova
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
National Income ◽  
Critical Determinant ◽  
Internet Adoption ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Internet Diffusion ◽  
Global Digital Divide ◽  
Communist Countries

The Internet is becoming more and more popu1ar in every country around the globe. Yet huge disparities in Internet penetration exist between countries. W hile there is an increasing concern about the dangers of a global "digital divide;' still very little is known about the factors that influence Internet diffusion at the country level. This exploratory study focuses on Internet adoption in the post-communist countries. Specifically, it examines the effects of income, infrastructure, and democratization on Internet use. The results show that, in addition to national income and teledensity, civil liberties emerge as a critical determinant. 

scholarly journals Dimensions of Well-being and the Millennium Development Goals

2008 ◽  
Vol 47 (4II) ◽  
pp. 851-876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashida Haq ◽  
Uzma Zia
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Poor Country ◽  
National Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Gdp Per Capita ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Deep Roots ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Per Capita

The concept of well-being has deep roots in philosophy [Cantril (1965)]. Much later in the 19th century modern definitions of well-being emerged. The utilitarian movement defined well-being subjectively and proclaimed individuals’ well-being as an important goal of individuals’ behaviour and public policy. During the 20th century social scientists started to examine well-being empirically, but a unified concept of wellbeing was lacking. At the beginning of the 20th century, economists developed elaborate quantitative theories of well-being, but rejected the possibility that individuals’ could provide valid reports of their own well-being. In the second half of the 20th century social scientists started to develop subjective measures of well-being, and started to examine how these measures relate to demographic variables or other characteristics of individuals [Andrews and Withey (1976)]. The relationship between GDP and well-being likely depends on how rich a country is. As income increases it contributes little to overall well-being at low levels of GDP in poor country, since only a narrow segment of the population is benefiting directly. Moreover, as noted by Sen (2001) non-monetary benefits such as health and education that improve individual capabilities are often more important than income in poor countries. As the benefits of continued growth trickle down to a burgeoning middle class, social well-being rises dramatically [Torras (2008)]. It is in this context that a number of alternatives to GDP have been introduced. For example, the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) human development index (HDI) uses GDP per capita to measure “access to economic resources” in well-being assessments but accords it only one-third weight in determination of the level of human development. Although national income accounting measures may sometimes not agree with popular perceptions of trends in economic well-being, GDP per capita is one of the three main components of the HDI, whose objective is to indicate the capability of people “to lead a long and healthy life, to acquire knowledge and to have access to resources needed for a decent standard of living” [Osberg and Andrew (2005)].

scholarly journals Human Development Equalization Issues Within the European Union

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsuzsanna Tóth
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Country Level ◽  
National Characteristics ◽  
Standards Of Living ◽  
Macroeconomic Indicators ◽  
Conditional Beta

The establishment and enlargement of the European Union have been partly motivated by catching up on higher living standards of living. This study examines whether developmental convergence can be demonstrated among the NUTS 2 regions of the Union. The existence of convergence among the EU is generally approached from an economic perspective by using macroeconomic indicators. Although these metrics are suitable for comparing the performance of Member States, they are less reflective of each country's social well-being. Several analyses, usually based on mortality indicators, have been conducted in an attempt to characterize convergence from a social point of view. However, these calculations are usually limited to country-level convergence analyses with diseases and causes of death in their focus. Thus, this study applies a complex measure, the Human Development Index (HDI), to examine convergence at a regional level. For this purpose, the regional HDI is calculated and the existence of absolute and conditional beta convergence is assessed. Our calculations confirm convergence among EU regions over the period between 2006 and 2017, but the analysis also reveals divergent trends and various national characteristics that will call into question the long-term sustainability of equalization.

scholarly journals Causes Of Corruption: Dynamic Panel Data Analysis Of Some Post Soviet Countries And East Asian Countries

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Güzin Bayar
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Panel Data Analysis ◽  
Ethical Problem ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Dynamic Panel Data ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Dynamic Panel ◽  
Country Level

Corruption is an important social and ethical problem. Determining root causes of it should be the first step to fight it. In this study, using a dynamic panel data approach, we try to determine the likely causes of level of corruption in some of the former USSR countries and East Asian countries. Regression results show that, past values of corruption and the level of political rights in a country are the factors that are most affecting the level of corruption in a country. Degree of opennes to the foreign trade, interference of government in the economy, FDI inflows, degree of civil liberties seem not to have significant effect on corruption level in a country. Level of inflation, unemployment, per capita GDP seems not to be among the causes of corruption, but rather they are <span>“caused by the corruption”. There seems no significant differences between East </span><span>Asian Countries and post-communist countries in terms of corruption level, when the effect of other variables are kept constant. </span>

Human potential in the system of social and economic development: problems and prospects of Vinnytsia region

2020 ◽  
pp. 71-80
Author(s):  
Olesya Tomchuk
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Potential ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Social And Economic Development

The article highlights the problems and prospects of human development, which is the basis for the long-term strategies of social and economic growth of different countries and regions at the present stage. Submitting strategies of this type provides an opportunity to focus on individual empowerment and to build a favorable environment for effective management decisions in the field of forming, maintaining, and restoring human potential. The analysis of the Vinnytsia region human potential dynamics in the regional system of social and economic development factors was carried out. Application of generalized assessment of the regional human development index components allowed the identification of the main trends that characterize the formation of human potential of the territory, including the reproduction of the population, social environment, comfort and quality of life, well-being, decent work, and education. The article emphasizes that despite some positive changes in the social and economic situation of the region and in assessing the parameters of its human development level relative to other regions of Ukraine, Vinnytsia region is now losing its human potential due to negative demographic situation and migration to other regions and countries. The main reason for such dynamics is proven to be related to the outdated structure of the region's economy, the predominance of the agricultural sector, the lack of progressive transformations in the development of high-tech fields of the economy. An important factor is the low level of urbanization of the region, which leads to the spread of less attractive working conditions and less comfortable living conditions. The key factors that cause the growth of urbanization in the region have been identified, including the significant positive impact of the transport and social infrastructure expansion, the lack of which in rural areas leads to a decrease in the level and comfort of life. Without progressive structural changes in the economy and the resettlement system, the loss of human potential will continue.

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