Measuring well-being by a multidimensional spatial model in OECD Better Life Index framework

Authors:
  • SGSalvatore Greco
    Salvatore Greco
  • AIAlessio Ishizaka
    Alessio Ishizaka
  • GRGiuliano Resce
    Giuliano Resce
  • GTGianpiero Torrisi
    Gianpiero Torrisi
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  • 1 January 2017
Abstract
We propose a multidimensional spatial model to evaluate the well-being using the Better Life Index (BLI) in 36 countries according to a two-steps procedure. First, we position the countries as points in the Euclidean K-dimensional space in which each dimension is a specific aspect of well-being as measured in the BLI. Second, we consider each individual/voter’s opinions on the same dimensions to calculate the personal optimal point in that same K-dimensional space. Hence, we measure the distance between optimal point of well-being and the actual observed point at individual level. This distance is interpreted as the individuals’ loss in well-being. We show that this loss is negatively related (i) to the overall well-being in terms of BLI and (ii) the main indices of quality of democracy.
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