Multilateral and multidimensional comparison of a group’s subjective well-being is problematic when its responses are ordinal and cardinally intangible. Arbitrary attribution of cardinal measure to ordinal categories engenders ambiguity when alternative equally valid scales are contemplated...

Underlying the unresolved debate over whether the gap between rich and poor country GNP per capita has narrowed is a concern for wellbeing. The issue is really about the changing shapes of distributions of wellbeing indicators. As limiting cases con- vergence between rich and poor country groups...