Human Well-Being: Concept and Measurement

322 Pages·2007·1.428 MB·English

by  Mark McGillivray (eds.)

StudiesinDevelopmentEconomicsandPolicy
GeneralEditor:AnthonyShorrocks
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Titlesinclude:
TonyAddisonandAlanRoe(editors)
FISCALPOLICYFORDEVELOPMENT
Poverty,ReconstructionandGrowth
TonyAddison,HenrikHansenandFinnTarp(editors)
DEBTRELIEFFORPOORCOUNTRIES
GeorgeJ.BorjasandJeffCrisp(editors)
POVERTY,INTERNATIONALMIGRATIONANDASYLUM
RicardoFfrench-DavisandStephanyGriffith-Jones(editors)
FROMCAPITALSURGESTODROUGHT
SeekingStabilityforEmergingEconomies
DavidFielding(editor)
MACROECONOMICPOLICYINTHEFRANCZONE
BasudebGuha-Khasnobis(editor)
THEWTO,DEVELOPINGCOUNTRIESANDTHEDOHADEVELOPMENTAGENDA
ProspectsandChallengesforTrade-ledGrowth
BasudebGuha-KhasnobisandRaviKanbur(editors)
INFORMALLABOURMARKETSANDDEVELOPMENT
AiguoLuandManuelF.Montes(editors)
POVERTY,INCOMEDISTRIBUTIONANDWELL-BEINGINASIADURING
THETRANSITION
MarkMcGillivray(editor)
HUMANWELL-BEING
ConceptandMeasurement
MarkMcGillivray(editor)
INEQUALITY,POVERTYANDWELL-BEING
RobertJ.McIntyreandBrunoDallago(editors)
SMALLANDMEDIUMENTERPRISESINTRANSITIONALECONOMIES
VladimirMikhalev(editor)
INEQUALITYANDSOCIALSTRUCTUREDURINGTHETRANSITION
E.WayneNafzigerandRaimoVäyrynen(editors)
THEPREVENTIONOFHUMANITARIANEMERGENCIES
MachikoNissankeandErikThorbecke(editors)
THEIMPACTOFGLOBALIZATIONONTHEWORLD’SPOOR
TransmissionMechanisms
MatthewOdedokun(editor)
EXTERNALFINANCEFORPRIVATESECTORDEVELOPMENT
AppraisalsandIssues
LaixiangSun(editor)
OWNERSHIPANDGOVERNANCEOFENTERPRISES
RecentInnovativeDevelopments
UNU-WIDER(editors)
WIDERPERSPECTIVESONGLOBALDEVELOPMENT
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Human Well-being
Concept and Measurement
Editedby
Mark McGillivray
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©UnitedNationsUniversity2007
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Humanwell-being:conceptandmeasurement/editedbyMarkMcGillivray.
p. cm.“(Studiesindevelopmenteconomicsandpolicy)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Contents:Humanwell-being:issues,concepts,andmeasures/Mark
McGillivray“Humanwell-being:conceptsandconceptualizations/
DesGasper“Income-basedmeasuresofaveragewell-being/SteveDowrick“
Socialandpoliticalindicatorsofhumanwell-being/SusanHarkness“
Compositeindicesofhumanwell-being/MarkMcGillivrayandFarhad
Noorbakhsh“Indicatorsofinequalityandpoverty/S.Subramanian“
Gender-relatedindicatorsofwell-being/StephanKlasen“Sustainabilityand
well-beingindicators/EricNeumayer“Subjectivemeasuresofwell-being/Ruut
Veenhoven“Participatoryapproachesandthemeasurementofhuman
well-being/SarahWhiteandJethroPettit.
1. Socialindicators. 2. Well-being. I. McGillivray,Mark.
II. WorldInstituteforDevelopmentEconomicsResearch.
HN25.H862007
301.072(cid:2)3“dc22 2006047642
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07
Contents
ListofFigures vi
ListofTables vii
Foreword viii
Acknowledgements ix
NotesontheContributors x
ListofAbbreviations xii
1 HumanWell-being:Issues,ConceptsandMeasures 1
Mark McGillivray
2 HumanWell-being:ConceptsandConceptualizations 23
Des Gasper
3 Income-basedMeasuresofAverageWell-being 65
Steve Dowrick
4 SocialandPoliticalIndicatorsofHumanWell-being 88
Susan Harkness
5 Composite Indexes of Human Well-being: Past, Present
andFuture 113
Mark McGillivray and Farhad Noorbakhsh
6 IndicatorsofInequalityandPoverty 135
S. Subramanian
7 Gender-relatedIndicatorsofWell-being 167
Stephan Klasen
8 SustainabilityandWell-beingIndicators 193
Eric Neumayer
9 SubjectiveMeasuresofWell-being 214
Ruut Veenhoven
10 ParticipatoryApproachesandtheMeasurementofHuman
Well-being 240
Sarah White and Jethro Pettit
Index 269
v
List of Figures
2.1 Refinedtermsforsubjective/objective 33
2.2 Sen’scategoriesforrankingaperson’ssituation 53
3.1 ScatterplotofGDPperhourversusGDPperperson 69
3.2 RealGDPperpersonandlifeexpectancyacross171countries,
1994–98 71
3.3 LifeexpectancyandGDP:countrieswithincomeunder$6000 73
3.4 LifeexpectancyandGDP:countrieswithincomeover$6000 74
3.5 Revealedpreference,PaascheandLaspeyreindexes 77
3.6 SubstitutionbiasintheGKindex 79
3.7 QuantifyingthebiasinFXandGKindexes 83
3.8 IndexesofGDPpercapita 84
3.9 DeviationsfromIdealAfriatindex 84
6.1 TheLorenzcurve 137
9.1 Objective–subjectivedifference:basicconfigurations 215
9.2 Objective–subjectivedifferences;elaborateconfigurations 216
9.3 Fourkindsofbeing‘well’ 217
9.4 MeaningsmeasuredbytheHumanDevelopmentIndex 226
9.5 MeaningsmeasuredbyAllardt’sDimensionsofWelfare(1976):
having(h),loving(l)andbeing(b) 227
9.6 MeaningsmeasuredbytheWHO’sQOLscale 228
vi
List of Tables
2.1 Alternativelevelsoffocusinstudiesofwell-being 40
2.2 Comparativeoverviewofthefocusandassumptionsof
selectedwritersonhumandevelopmentandwell-being 42
2.3 Towardsareplacementvocabulary 54
3.1 RecordedhoursofworkandGDPintheOECD,1990 68
3.2 Life expectancy and GDP, descriptive statistics for 171
countries 72
3.3 RegressionanalysisoflifeexpectancyonrealGDPpercapita 72
3.4 StandarddeviationoflogratiotoAfriatIdealindex 85
4.1 TheMillenniumDevelopmentGoals,targetsandindicators 93
4.2 Datacoverageforcoredevelopmentindicators(1990–95) 95
5.1 Meanandstandarddeviationofrescaledvariables 119
5.2 PearsoncorrelationcoefficientsbetweenHDI2002andits
components 124
5.3 HumanDevelopmentIndexwithalternativeweights 126
6.1 Somedescriptiveinequalitymeasuresandtheirproperties 143
7.1 Missingwomen,latestestimates 169
7.2 Enrolmentandachievementineducationbygender 170
7.3 HDI,GDI,andGEMforselectedcountriesin2003 183
8.1 HDIwithGenuineSavingsqualification 203
10.1 PrincipalmethodsusedinPPAsandtheVoicesofthePoor
study 245
10.2 Characteristics of different wealth groups identified in
Sofaya,SouthAfrica 247
10.3 Characteristics of qualitative and quantitative poverty
appraisal 255
10.4 Indicatorsusedinparticipatorypovertyindex,China 256
vii
Foreword
Social science research on human well-being has progressed a great deal
in recent years, altering in response to changing global conditions, new
research priorities and improved data resources. Two decades ago, for
example, a comparison of well-being across countries was typically based
on per capita incomes converted into US dollars at market exchange rates.
Nowadays, a similar exercise would almost certainly take account of vari-
ationsinpurchasingpowerparitybetweencountriesandwouldbelikelyto
embracenon-incomeandnon-economicdimensionsofwell-being,giventhe
increasedrecognitionofthemultidimensionalnatureofwell-being.Itmight
alsoencompassthedistributionofwell-beingamongandwithincountries,
theextenttowhichcurrentlevelsofachievementcanbesustainedovertime,
orevenbefoundedonsubjectiveorself-assessedmeasuresofwell-being.
This book emanates from a UNU-WIDER project on ‘Measuring Human
Well-being’ (Social Development Indicators). It aims to provide a compre-
hensive and rigorous review of the concept and measurement of human
well-being, with the main focus on well-being achievement at the level of
nations. The topics covered include influential conceptualizations of well-
being (such as Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach), the construction of
composite indices (such as the Human Development Index), social and
politicaldimensionsofwell-being,theapplicationofparticipatorymethods,
taking account of sustainability and gender-related issues, and subjective
measuresofwell-being,includinghappinessscores.
Whileacceptingthatmanyaspectsofwell-beingcannotbemeasured,the
bookoffersmanyusefulsuggestionsforfutureresearchontheconstruction
andapplicationofwell-beingindices.Theseincludepayinggreaterattention
tohumansecurityissues;effortstosynthesisealternativeconceptualizations
of well-being – for example, by combining subjective and objective meas-
ures; and assigning degrees of confidence in comparisons of inter-country
well-being, especially in the context of the measures used to track progress
towardstheMillenniumDevelopmentGoals.
This book provides a timely and welcome addition to the literature on
well-being. It will appeal in particular to those who have ever wondered
about the ultimate goal of human development, and whether the elusive
conceptofhumanwell-beingcaneverbecapturedsatisfactorilyinameasure
thatcanbeusedtomonitorandassessprogress.
ANTHONYSHORROCKS
Director,UNU-WIDER
viii
Acknowledgements
This volume originates from the UNU-WIDER research project entitled
‘MeasuringHumanWell-being’(SocialDevelopmentIndicators).TheBoard
of UNU-WIDER provided valuable suggestions during the early stages of
theproject.TonyShorrocks,directorofUNU-WIDER,providedconsiderable
encouragement,adviceandsupportthroughoutthelifeoftheproject.Tony
Addison,deputy-directorofUNU-WIDER,providedveryusefuladvice,espe-
ciallyattheearlystagesoftheproject.Valuablecommentsfromanonymous
refereesonapreviousdraftofthevolumewereextremelyusefulinshaping
thefinalproduct.Thefollowingpeoplealsoprovidedveryusefulcomments
ononeormoreofthechaptersappearinginthisvolume:MinaBaliamoune-
Lutz,MatthewClarke,JamesFoster,IanGough,AjeetMathur,LarsOsberg,
RamPillarisetti,MozaffarQizilbashandMarianoRojas.
TheMeasuringHumanWell-beingprojectwassupportedbymanyUNU-
WIDERstaff.SpecialthanksareduetoAnneRuohonenandAdamSwallow.
Anne served as the project secretary, providing extremely efficient support
and consistently good humour. The book could not have ever come to
completion without Anne’s inputs. Adam provided incisive and timely
publicationsadvice,handlingoftencomplexmatterswithsoundjudgement
and skill. Thanks are also due to Barbara Fagerman, Lea Hallbäck, Maria
Kauppinen,AraKazandjian,BruckTadesseandAnsVehmaanperä.
Special thanks are also due to Amanda Hamilton at Palgrave Macmillan
forprovidingsucheffectivepublicationanddisseminationofoutputsfrom
theUNU-WIDERMeasuringHumanWell-beingproject.
UNU-WIDER gratefully acknowledges the financial contributions to the
research programme by the governments of Denmark (Royal Ministry
of Foreign Affairs), Finland (Ministry for Foreign Affairs), Norway (Royal
Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Sweden (Swedish International Development
CooperationAgency–SIDA)andtheUnitedKingdom(DepartmentforInter-
nationalDevelopment–DFID).
ix