This paper shows that local banking market conditions affect mortality rates in the United States. Exploiting the staggered relaxation of branching restrictions in the 1990s across states, we find that banking deregulation decreases local mortality rates. This effect is driven by a decrease in...

Since its inception, the main analytical contribution of the Human Development Index (HDI) has been its emphasis on enhancing the quantity of its components. In this paper, a set of qualitative indicators are introduced in order to formulate a quality-adjusted human development index (Q-HDI)...

This publication features a collection of papers discussing the factors which have an impact on the quality of life and the subjective sense of well-being of local communities. The articles also provide empirical explanations as to what extent the developmental levels of the regions studied...