Working Paper: NBER ID: w11911
Authors: David Bell; David G. Blanchflower
Abstract: On almost all measures of physical health, Scots fare worse than residents of any other region of the UK and often worse than the rest of Europe. Deaths from chronic liver disease and lung cancer are particularly prevalent in Scotland. The self-assessed wellbeing of Scots is lower than that of the English or Welsh, even after taking into account any differences in characteristics. Scots also suffer from higher levels of self-assessed depression or phobia, accidental death and suicide than those in other parts of Great Britain. This result is particularly driven by outcomes in Strathclyde and is consistent with the high scores for other measures of social deprivation in this area. On average, indicators of social capital in Scotland are no worse than in England or Wales. Detailed analysis within Scotland, however, shows that social capital indicators for the Strathclyde area are relatively low. We argue that these problems seem unlikely to be fixed by indirect policies aimed at raising economic growth.
Keywords: Wellbeing; Health; Economic Growth; Scotland; Social Capital
JEL Codes: J4
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| economic growth (O49) | wellbeing (I31) |
| higher economic growth (O49) | increased consumption (E21) |
| increased consumption (E21) | life satisfaction (I31) |
| geographical factors (R12) | mental health outcomes (I12) |
| living in areas with higher social deprivation (I32) | adverse health outcomes (I14) |
| lifestyle choices (I12) | health issues (I12) |
| economic and social factors (P36) | lifestyle choices (I12) |