Beyond GDP: Classifying Alternative Measures for Progress

Bleys, Brent

doi:10.1007/s11205-011-9906-6

Cited by 157 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Another key challenge in Canada has been lack of consensus on the best alternative measures and how to construct them-as has been the case internationally The proliferation of possible alternative measurements is evident, for example, in Bleys's classification of 23 different beyond-GDP measures, a selection of the available options [103,104]. Although much Canadian work has come to focus on the CIW, there has not been universal agreement on its merits.…”

Section: Challenges Constructing and Agreeing On Alternative Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is It What You Measure That Really Matters? The Struggle to Move beyond GDP in Canada

Hayden

Wilson

2016

Sustainability

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Abstract:In light of Gross Domestic Product's (GDP) well-known limitations as a wellbeing indicator, many alternative measures have been developed around the world. Some advocates of "beyond GDP" measures argue that they are key to shifting societal priorities away from economic growth toward sustainability, equity, and well-being. Is there any evidence to date that alternative indicators have lived up to their supporters' expectations, whether the hope is for a radical transformation of social priorities away from GDP growth or a reformist vision of better policymaking without challenging the growth paradigm? What are the obstacles to fulfilling those expectations? This article examines the Canadian experience, drawing on interviews with researchers, non-governmental organization (NGO) leaders, public-sector officials, and politicians, along with analysis of relevant documents. The hopes of Canadian proponents of new wellbeing measures have been largely disappointed to date, as no impact on federal or provincial policy is evident. Obstacles facing both a transformative and more limited reformist vision are examined. The Canadian case also suggests that use of new socio-economic indicators is best seen as one product of political efforts to bring ecological and social values into decision-making, rather than as the transformative force that will cause a change in societal priorities.

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Section: Challenges Constructing and Agreeing On Alternative Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is It What You Measure That Really Matters? The Struggle to Move beyond GDP in Canada

Hayden

Wilson

2016

Sustainability

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“…In recent years a growing number of alternative progress measures have evolved globally (Wesselink et al (2007), Bleys (2012) for an overview). Bandura (2008) found 178 composite indices worldwide that assess country performance on local, regional or national levels.…”

Section: Alternative Measures To Gdpmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A certain number of classification schemes for alternative measures already exist with varying classification approaches (Bleys (2012)). One of them also used by Kassenboehmer and Schmidt (2011) classifies alternative indicators concerning their relation to GDP with (i) those that alter GDP (i.e.…”

Section: Classificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are There Business Cycles “beyond GDP”? Alternative Measures to GDP at Business Cycle Frequencies

Döpke¹,

Maschke²

2015

AEQ

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may AbstractWe discuss properties of alternatives or complements to GDP as a measure of welfare at business cycle frequencies. We argue that these figures are not useful to measure the welfare costs of business cycles. First, data is not available at an appropriate quality and frequency. Second, since the suggested time series sometimes correlate negatively with each other composite indices will lead by construction to very low welfare costs of business cycles. Third, cross-section and quasi-panel evidence based on different samples of countries reveals no impact of the stance of the business cycle on some suggested welfare measures. JEL-Classification: D06, E01, E32, I31

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“…After reviewing the merits and the drawbacks of the existing schemes, Bleys [3] developed a new substance-based classification scheme in which the alternative measures are categorized by the underlying concepts that they aim to quantify: well-being, economic welfare and sustainability. Measures of well-being aim to comprehensively evaluate either a single person's life situation or the life situation of a group of people.…”

Section: Beyond Gdp: the Index Of Sustainable Economic Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the classification scheme by Bleys [3] outlined above, one of the main conclusions is that the dimension of economic welfare is often overlooked in the -Beyond GDP‖ debate. New measures focus mostly on the concepts of well-being or sustainability, and even in the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi report, the need to develop a measure of true economic progress is absent.…”

Section: Economic Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

The Regional Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare for Flanders, Belgium

Bleys

2013

Sustainability

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Abstract:In this paper, the regional Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) is compiled for Flanders for the period 1990-2009. The ISEW is a measure of economic welfare in that it measures the contribution of a country's or region's economy to the overall level of well-being of its citizens. It does so by comparing the benefits and the costs of economic activities rather than simply looking at the market value of all final goods and services produced in an economy (Gross Domestic Product-GDP). The ISEW for Flanders shows that the per capita level of sustainable economic welfare in the region decreased between 1990 and 2009. The drop in the ISEW/capita is caused by a deterioration of the net international investment position of Belgium (which is divided over the different regions in the country on a per capita basis) and by an increase in the income inequalities in Flanders. To a lesser extent, the increase of the environmental costs (climate change and the use of non-renewable energy resources) also contributed to the decrease in the ISEW per capita. In the last four years of the study period, the level of sustainable economic welfare in the Flemish region started to rise again, even in 2008 and 2009 during the economic recession.

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Beyond GDP: Classifying Alternative Measures for Progress

Cited by 157 publications

References 24 publications

Is It What You Measure That Really Matters? The Struggle to Move beyond GDP in Canada

Is It What You Measure That Really Matters? The Struggle to Move beyond GDP in Canada

Are There Business Cycles “beyond GDP”? Alternative Measures to GDP at Business Cycle Frequencies

The Regional Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare for Flanders, Belgium

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