IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v158y2019icp1-10.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Australia's Genuine Progress Indicator Revisited (1962–2013)

Author

Listed:
  • Kenny, Daniel C.
  • Costanza, Robert
  • Dowsley, Tom
  • Jackson, Nichelle
  • Josol, Jairus
  • Kubiszewski, Ida
  • Narulla, Harkiran
  • Sese, Saioa
  • Sutanto, Anna
  • Thompson, Jonathan

Abstract

The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) has been proposed as an alternative to GDP as an indicator of national progress. GPI includes 26 components that adjust GDP for inequality, include household and volunteer work, and subtract a number of social and environmental costs best seen as negatives. The GPI has been estimated for over 20 countries and many states and territories. This paper updates Australia's GPI to determine whether Australia as a nation has progressed overall since the 1960s and compares two alternative approaches that differ in some important details. We find that despite these differing approaches, we find that GPI remained largely stagnant from the 1960s through to the 1990s, and only at the turn of the century has GPI started to increase, despite increasing negative environmental costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Kenny, Daniel C. & Costanza, Robert & Dowsley, Tom & Jackson, Nichelle & Josol, Jairus & Kubiszewski, Ida & Narulla, Harkiran & Sese, Saioa & Sutanto, Anna & Thompson, Jonathan, 2019. "Australia's Genuine Progress Indicator Revisited (1962–2013)," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 1-10.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:158:y:2019:i:c:p:1-10
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.11.025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800917317445
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.11.025?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kenny, Daniel C., 2017. "Modeling of natural and social capital on farms: Toward useable integration," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 356(C), pages 1-13.
    2. Kubiszewski, Ida & Costanza, Robert & Gorko, Nicole E. & Weisdorf, Michael A. & Carnes, Austin W. & Collins, Cathrine E. & Franco, Carol & Gehres, Lillian R. & Knobloch, Jenna M. & Matson, Gayle E. & , 2015. "Estimates of the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) for Oregon from 1960–2010 and recommendations for a comprehensive shareholder's report," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 1-7.
    3. Costanza, Robert & Fisher, Brendan & Ali, Saleem & Beer, Caroline & Bond, Lynne & Boumans, Roelof & Danigelis, Nicholas L. & Dickinson, Jennifer & Elliott, Carolyn & Farley, Joshua & Gayer, Diane Elli, 2007. "Quality of life: An approach integrating opportunities, human needs, and subjective well-being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2-3), pages 267-276, March.
    4. Olafsson, Snjolfur & Cook, David & Davidsdottir, Brynhildur & Johannsdottir, Lara, 2014. "Measuring countries׳ environmental sustainability performance – A review and case study of Iceland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 934-948.
    5. Andrade, Daniel Caixeta & Garcia, Junior Ruiz, 2015. "Estimating the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) for Brazil from 1970 to 2010," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 49-56.
    6. Kubiszewski, Ida & Zakariyya, Nabeeh & Costanza, Robert, 2018. "Objective and Subjective Indicators of Life Satisfaction in Australia: How Well Do People Perceive What Supports a Good Life?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 361-372.
    7. Kubiszewski, Ida & Costanza, Robert & Franco, Carol & Lawn, Philip & Talberth, John & Jackson, Tim & Aylmer, Camille, 2013. "Beyond GDP: Measuring and achieving global genuine progress," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 57-68.
    8. Bagstad, Kenneth J. & Semmens, Darius J. & Waage, Sissel & Winthrop, Robert, 2013. "A comparative assessment of decision-support tools for ecosystem services quantification and valuation," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 5(C), pages 27-39.
    9. J. Pretty & J. Peacock & R. Hine & M. Sellens & N. South & M. Griffin, 2007. "Green exercise in the UK countryside: Effects on health and psychological well-being, and implications for policy and planning," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(2), pages 211-231.
    10. Boumans, Roelof & Roman, Joe & Altman, Irit & Kaufman, Les, 2015. "The Multiscale Integrated Model of Ecosystem Services (MIMES): Simulating the interactions of coupled human and natural systems," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 30-41.
    11. Bryony Hoskins & Massimiliano Mascherini, 2009. "Measuring Active Citizenship through the Development of a Composite Indicator," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 90(3), pages 459-488, February.
    12. Wen, Zongguo & Zhang, Kunmin & Du, Bin & Li, Yadong & Li, Wei, 2007. "Case study on the use of genuine progress indicator to measure urban economic welfare in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2-3), pages 463-475, August.
    13. Fox, Mairi-Jane V. & Erickson, Jon D., 2018. "Genuine Economic Progress in the United States: A Fifty State Study and Comparative Assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 29-35.
    14. Hayashi, Takashi, 2015. "Measuring rural–urban disparity with the Genuine Progress Indicator: A case study in Japan," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 260-271.
    15. Costanza, Robert & Erickson, Jon & Fligger, Karen & Adams, Alan & Adams, Christian & Altschuler, Ben & Balter, Stephanie & Fisher, Brendan & Hike, Jessica & Kelly, Joe, 2004. "Estimates of the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) for Vermont, Chittenden County and Burlington, from 1950 to 2000," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1-2), pages 139-155, November.
    16. Vemuri, Amanda W. & Costanza, Robert, 2006. "The role of human, social, built, and natural capital in explaining life satisfaction at the country level: Toward a National Well-Being Index (NWI)," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 119-133, June.
    17. Riccardo Natoli & Segu Zuhair, 2011. "Measuring Progress: A Comparison of the GDP, HDI, GS and the RIE," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 103(1), pages 33-56, August.
    18. Bleys, Brent, 2008. "Proposed changes to the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare: An application to Belgium," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 741-751, February.
    19. United Nations, 2014. "System of Environmental-Economic Accounting 2012," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 23959.
    20. Bleys, Brent & Whitby, Alistair, 2015. "Barriers and opportunities for alternative measures of economic welfare," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 162-172.
    21. Stymne, Susanna & Jackson, Tim, 2000. "Intra-generational equity and sustainable welfare: a time series analysis for the UK and Sweden," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 219-236, May.
    22. Boumans, Roelof & Costanza, Robert & Farley, Joshua & Wilson, Matthew A. & Portela, Rosimeiry & Rotmans, Jan & Villa, Ferdinando & Grasso, Monica, 2002. "Modeling the dynamics of the integrated earth system and the value of global ecosystem services using the GUMBO model," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 529-560, June.
    23. Lawn, Philip A., 2003. "A theoretical foundation to support the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW), Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), and other related indexes," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 105-118, February.
    24. Talberth, John & Weisdorf, Michael, 2017. "Genuine Progress Indicator 2.0: Pilot Accounts for the US, Maryland, and City of Baltimore 2012–2014," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 1-11.
    25. Sebastian Gil & Jerzy Sleszynski, 2003. "An index of sustainable economic welfare for Poland," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(1), pages 47-55.
    26. Nicholas Biddle, 2014. "Measuring and Analysing the Wellbeing of Australia’s Indigenous Population," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 116(3), pages 713-729, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cook, David & Davíðsdóttir, Brynhildur, 2021. "An appraisal of interlinkages between macro-economic indicators of economic well-being and the sustainable development goals," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    2. Jonas Van der Slycken & Brent Bleys, 2020. "Cost-shifting Versus “Full” Accountability: Dealing with Cross-time and Cross-boundary Issues in the ISEW and GPI. An application to Belgium," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 20/1003, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    3. Jonas Slycken & Brent Bleys, 2023. "Towards ISEW and GPI 2.0: Dealing with Cross-Time and Cross-Boundary Issues in a Case Study for Belgium," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 557-583, August.
    4. Cook, David & Davíðsdóttir, Brynhildur, 2021. "An estimate of the Genuine Progress Indicator for Iceland, 2000–2019," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    5. Van der Slycken, Jonas & Bleys, Brent, 2020. "A Conceptual Exploration and Critical Inquiry into the Theoretical Foundation(s) of Economic Welfare Measures," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    6. David Cook & Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir & Ingunn Gunnarsdóttir, 2022. "A Conceptual Exploration of How the Pursuit of Sustainable Energy Development Is Implicit in the Genuine Progress Indicator," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-23, March.
    7. Shashank Vikram Pratap Singh & V. K. Shrotryia, 2022. "Income Inequality and Human Wellbeing: An Empirical Analysis Using Atkinson Measure of Inequality," Emerging Economy Studies, International Management Institute, vol. 8(2), pages 116-128, November.
    8. Jonas Van der Slycken & Brent Bleys, 2021. "Towards ISEW and GPI 2.0, part I: developing two alternative measures of economic welfare with distinct time and boundary perspectives for Belgium," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 21/1026, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    9. Ji, Xi & Wu, Guowei & Su, Pinyi & Luo, Xuanyuan & Long, Xianling, 2022. "Does legislation improvement alleviate the decoupling between welfare and wealth in China?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    10. V. K. Shrotryia & Shashank Vikram Pratap Singh, 2020. "Measuring Progress Beyond GDP: A Theoretical Perspective," Emerging Economy Studies, International Management Institute, vol. 6(2), pages 143-165, November.
    11. Van der Slycken, Jonas & Bleys, Brent, 2024. "Is Europe faring well with growth? Evidence from a welfare comparison in the EU-15 (1995–2018)," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    12. Fassina, Caroline & Jarvis, Diane & Tavares, Silvia & Coggan, Anthea, 2022. "Valuation of ecosystem services through offsets: Why are coastal ecosystems more valuable in Australia than in Brazil?," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    13. Fox, Mairi-Jane V. & Erickson, Jon D., 2020. "Design and meaning of the genuine progress indicator: A statistical analysis of the U.S. fifty-state model," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    14. Tatyana Ponomarenko & Marina Nevskaya & Oksana Marinina, 2020. "An Assessment of the Applicability of Sustainability Measurement Tools to Resource-Based Economies of the Commonwealth of Independent States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-20, July.
    15. Lazarus, Elias & Brown, Clair, 2022. "Improving the genuine progress indicator to measure comparable net welfare: U.S. and California, 1995–2017," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    16. Kibria, Abu S.M.G. & Costanza, Robert & Gasparatos, Alexandros & Soto, José, 2022. "A composite human wellbeing index for ecosystem-dependent communities: A case study in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    17. Usubiaga-Liaño, Arkaitz & Ekins, Paul, 2024. "Methodological choices for reflecting strong sustainability in composite indices," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Long, Xianling & Ji, Xi, 2019. "Economic Growth Quality, Environmental Sustainability, and Social Welfare in China - Provincial Assessment Based on Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI)," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 157-176.
    2. Luhua Wu & Shijie Wang & Xiaoyong Bai & Guangjie Luo & Jinfeng Wang & Fei Chen & Chaojun Li & Chen Ran & Sirui Zhang, 2022. "Accelerating the Improvement of Human Well-Being in China through Economic Growth and Policy Adjustment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-20, October.
    3. Daniel Francisco Pais & Tiago Lopes Afonso & Ant nio Cardoso Marques & Jos A Fuinhas, 2019. "Are Economic Growth and Sustainable Development Converging? Evidence from the Comparable Genuine Progress Indicator for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Countries," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(4), pages 202-213.
    4. Rugani, Benedetto & Marvuglia, Antonino & Pulselli, Federico Maria, 2018. "Predicting Sustainable Economic Welfare – Analysis and perspectives for Luxembourg based on energy policy scenarios," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 288-303.
    5. Mirko Armiento, 2016. "The Sustainable Welfare Index for Italy, 1960-2013," Working Papers 1601, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini, revised 2016.
    6. Fox, Mairi-Jane V. & Erickson, Jon D., 2018. "Genuine Economic Progress in the United States: A Fifty State Study and Comparative Assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 29-35.
    7. Fox, Mairi-Jane V. & Erickson, Jon D., 2020. "Design and meaning of the genuine progress indicator: A statistical analysis of the U.S. fifty-state model," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    8. Talberth, John & Weisdorf, Michael, 2017. "Genuine Progress Indicator 2.0: Pilot Accounts for the US, Maryland, and City of Baltimore 2012–2014," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 1-11.
    9. Jonas Slycken & Brent Bleys, 2023. "Towards ISEW and GPI 2.0: Dealing with Cross-Time and Cross-Boundary Issues in a Case Study for Belgium," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 557-583, August.
    10. Kubiszewski, Ida & Costanza, Robert & Franco, Carol & Lawn, Philip & Talberth, John & Jackson, Tim & Aylmer, Camille, 2013. "Beyond GDP: Measuring and achieving global genuine progress," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 57-68.
    11. Jonas Van der Slycken & Brent Bleys, 2020. "Cost-shifting Versus “Full” Accountability: Dealing with Cross-time and Cross-boundary Issues in the ISEW and GPI. An application to Belgium," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 20/1003, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    12. Van der Slycken, Jonas & Bleys, Brent, 2020. "A Conceptual Exploration and Critical Inquiry into the Theoretical Foundation(s) of Economic Welfare Measures," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    13. Kenny, Daniel C., 2017. "Modeling of natural and social capital on farms: Toward useable integration," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 356(C), pages 1-13.
    14. Cook, David & Davíðsdóttir, Brynhildur, 2021. "An estimate of the Genuine Progress Indicator for Iceland, 2000–2019," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    15. Posner, Stephen M. & Costanza, Robert, 2011. "A summary of ISEW and GPI studies at multiple scales and new estimates for Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and the State of Maryland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1972-1980, September.
    16. Günseli BERIK, 2020. "Measuring what matters and guiding policy: An evaluation of the Genuine Progress Indicator," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 159(1), pages 71-94, March.
    17. Jonas Van der Slycken & Brent Bleys, 2021. "Towards ISEW and GPI 2.0, part I: developing two alternative measures of economic welfare with distinct time and boundary perspectives for Belgium," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 21/1026, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    18. Xincheng Zhu & Yulin Liu & Xin Fang, 2022. "Revisiting the Sustainable Economic Welfare Growth in China: Provincial Assessment Based on the ISEW," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 279-306, July.
    19. Theodore P. Lianos & Anastasia Pseiridis, 2021. "Adjusting GDP for ecological deficit: the Index of Debt to the Future (IDF)," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 1-22, March.
    20. Bleys, Brent & Whitby, Alistair, 2015. "Barriers and opportunities for alternative measures of economic welfare," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 162-172.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:158:y:2019:i:c:p:1-10. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.