Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP8225
Authors: Sonja C. Kassenboehmer; Christoph M. Schmidt
Abstract: Building on the Stiglitz report, a growing literature suggests to explore other aspects of human welfare apart from material well-being, such as job security, crime, health, environmental factors and subjective perceptions. To explore the additional information of these indicators, we analyze data on the macro level from the German Federal Statistical Office combined with micro level data from the German SOEP (1991-2008). Much of the variation in many well-being measures can indeed be captured well by GDP and the unemployment rate. These correlations are far from perfect, thus giving considerable hope that there is room for a broader statistical reporting.
Keywords: beyond GDP; happiness; Sen; Stiglitz; sustainability; welfare measurement
JEL Codes: D60; E01; I30
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| GDP (E20) | wellbeing (I31) |
| unemployment rate (J64) | wellbeing (I31) |
| GDP and unemployment rate (E24) | variation in wellbeing measures (I31) |
| alternative indicators (C43) | insights into wellbeing (I31) |
| GDP increases due to negative factors (F69) | wellbeing (I31) |