Modern Economic Growth and Quality of Life: Cross Sectional and Time Series Evidence
61 Pages Posted: 15 Apr 2007
Date Written: April 12, 2007
Abstract
To what extent are improvements in quality of life (material living levels, health, education, political and civil rights, happiness, and the like) associated with economic growth? International comparisons of quality of life (QoL) conditions almost always point to a strong positive association with real GDP per capita. Historical experience, however, frequently belies the results of these comparisons. More often than not the timing of various improvements in QoL, material living levels excepted, is different from that in real GDP per capita - some indicators preceding, others following. Moreover, the sequence of improvements in various aspects of QoL is not always the same from one part of the world to another. And sometimes, as in the case of happiness and life satisfaction, QoL indicators remain unchanged despite a doubling or more of real GDP per capita. In contrast to the results of simple international point-of-time comparisons, history suggests that improvements in many realms of life are not an automatic result of economic growth.
Keywords: Quality of life, well-being, economic growth, international and historical comparisons
JEL Classification: N30, O57, D60, Y1
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Insuring Consumption and Happiness Through Religious Organizations
By Rajeev H. Dehejia, Thomas Deleire, ...
-
Insuring Consumption and Happiness Through Religious Organizations
By Rajeev H. Dehejia, Thomas Deleire, ...
-
Recent Advances in the Economics of Individual Subjective Well-Being
By Alois Stutzer and Bruno S. Frey
-
By Bruce Headey, Jürgen Schupp, ...
-
By Bruce Headey, Jürgen Schupp, ...
-
Suboptimal Choices and the Need for Experienced Individual Well-Being in Economic Analysis
By Christopher K. Hsee, Yuval Rottenstreich, ...
-
Praying for a Recession: The Business Cycle and Protestant Religiosity in the United States
-
Happiness and Financial Satisfaction in Israel: Effects of Religiosity, Ethnicity, and War
By B.m.s. Van Praag, Dmitri Romanov, ...
-
Happiness and Financial Satisfaction in Israel: Effects of Religiosity, Ethnicity, and War
By B.m.s. Van Praag, Dmitri Romanov, ...
-
Happiness and Financial Satisfaction in Israel: Effects of Religiosity, Ethnicity, and War
By B.m.s. Van Praag, Dmitri Romanov, ...