The limitations of GDP as a measure of welfare are well known. We propose a new method of estimating the well-being of nations. Using gross bilateral international migration flows and a discrete choice model in which everyone in the world chooses a country in which to live, we estimate each...

Life satisfaction is increasingly recognised as a desirable individual outcome. Policy attention with respect to child well-being has focused on improving the financial position of families with children. Using Understanding Society I show that child life satisfaction is not associated with...

In recent years considerable interest has developed in going 'beyond GDP' to develop measures of economic progress which are more explicitly based on human wellbeing. This work has been inspired, in part, by Sen's non-utilitarian approach to welfare economics, but has been constrained by a lack...

How do we understand the synergies and trade-offs of a given policy on area beyond that policy, such as the effect of housing on health and on income? How do we choose between policies in completely different areas, such as an education policy and a health policy? Treasury's Living Standards...

Societal progress is characterized primarily as an improvement in the distribution of wellbeing; however, a small set of additional variables are also necessary. Social indicators based on objective measures are inherently limited by the subjective assessments necessary of "experts" to select...

Using micro-data on six surveys - the Gallup World Poll 2005-2023, the U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 1993-2022, Eurobarometer 1991-2022, the UK Covid Social Survey Panel, 2020-2022, the European Social Survey 2002-2020 and the IPSOS Happiness Survey 2018-2023 - we show...

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the most widely used indicator from the system of national accounts. Although often interpreted as an indicator for (economic) well-being, it first and foremost monitors economic activity, and falls short of reflecting broader measures which try to capture...

Society drifts apart in many dimensions. Economists focus on income of the poor and rich and the distribution of income but a broader spectrum of dimensions is required to draw the picture of multiple facets of individual life. In our study of multidimensional polarization we extend the income...

Society drifts apart in many dimensions. Economists focus on income of the poor and rich and the distribution of income but a broader spectrum of dimensions is required to draw the picture of multiple facets of individual life. In our study of multidimensional polarization we extend the income...

Per capita GDP has limited use as a well-being indicator because it does not capture many dimensions that imply a "good life," such as health and equality of opportunity. However, per capita GDP has the virtues of easy interpretation and can be calculated with manageable data requirements....