This paper presents a heuristic mathematical model of the evolution over time in the statistical distribution of well-being of individuals in a society. The model predicts that when individuals overvalue the more overtly conspicuous aspects of well-being in their lifestyle choices, then the...

We develop an approach for making welfare comparisons between populations with multidimensional discrete well-being indicators observed at the micro level. The approach is rooted in the concept of multidimensional first order dominance. It assumes that, for each indicator, the levels can be...