IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v159y2022i2d10.1007_s11205-021-02761-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Well-being Indicators: a Review and Comparison in the Context of Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Silvia Facchinetti

    (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)

  • Elena Siletti

    (Università della Valle d’Aosta)

Abstract

Interest in the well-being measurement is constantly increasing worldwide, especially due to the Stiglitz Commission suggestions, which opened several questions about its assessment and theoretical framework. This paper focuses on the Italian scenario due to the central role given to this topic by the Italian Parliament, which introduces equitable and sustainable well-being among the objectives of the government’s economic and social policy. Significant differences exist among the proposed Italian well-being indices in terms of theoretical approach, statistical rigour and aims. We propose a detailed outline of these indices useful for policy-makers, practitioners, economists and statistics scholars, with the awareness that for a good analysis, a complete and conscious description of the data is the starting point to further improve their usefulness, to maximise their advantages and to cut down their limitations.

Suggested Citation

  • Silvia Facchinetti & Elena Siletti, 2022. "Well-being Indicators: a Review and Comparison in the Context of Italy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 523-547, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:159:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-021-02761-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-021-02761-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-021-02761-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-021-02761-0?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. Iacus Stefano M. & Salini Silvia & Siletti Elena & Porro Giuseppe, 2020. "Controlling for Selection Bias in Social Media Indicators through Official Statistics: a Proposal," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 36(2), pages 315-338, June.
    2. Francesco Burchi & Chiara Gnesi, 2016. "A Review of the Literature on Well-Being in Italy: A Human Development Perspective," Forum for Social Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(2-3), pages 170-192, August.
    3. Elisabetta Segre & Tommaso Rondinella & Massimiliano Mascherini, 2011. "Well-Being in Italian Regions. Measures, Civil Society Consultation and Evidence," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 102(1), pages 47-69, May.
    4. Christopher Barrington-Leigh & Alice Escande, 2018. "Measuring Progress and Well-Being: A Comparative Review of Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(3), pages 893-925, February.
    5. Enrico Ivaldi & Guido Bonatti & Riccardo Soliani, 2014. "Composite Index for Quality of Life in Italian Cities: An Application to URBES Indicators," Review of Economics & Finance, Better Advances Press, Canada, vol. 4, pages 18-32, November.
    6. Marc Fleurbaey, 2009. "Beyond GDP: The Quest for a Measure of Social Welfare," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1029-1075, December.
    7. Pasquale De Muro & Matteo Mazziotta & Adriano Pareto, 2011. "Composite Indices of Development and Poverty: An Application to MDGs," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 104(1), pages 1-18, October.
    8. G. Lun & D. Holzer & G. Tappeiner & U. Tappeiner, 2006. "The Stability of Rankings Derived From Composite Indicators: Analysis of the “IL Sole 24 Ore” Quality of Life Report," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 77(2), pages 307-331, June.
    9. Eugenia Nissi & Annalina Sarra, 2018. "A Measure of Well-Being Across the Italian Urban Areas: An Integrated DEA-Entropy Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 1183-1209, April.
    10. Luigi Curini & Stefano Iacus & Luciano Canova, 2015. "Measuring Idiosyncratic Happiness Through the Analysis of Twitter: An Application to the Italian Case," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(2), pages 525-542, April.
    11. Michael Hagerty & Robert Cummins & Abbott Ferriss & Kenneth Land & Alex Michalos & Mark Peterson & Andrew Sharpe & Joseph Sirgy & Joachim Vogel, 2001. "Quality of Life Indexes for National Policy: Review and Agenda for Research," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 1-96, July.
    12. Stefano Maria IACUS & Giuseppe PORRO & Silvia SALINI & Elena SILETTI, 2015. "Social Networks, Happiness and Health: From Sentiment Analysis to a Multidimensional Indicator of Subjective Well-Being," Departmental Working Papers 2015-20, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    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. Cantone, Giulio Giacomo & Tomaselli, Venera, 2024. "On the Coherence of Composite Indexes: Multiversal Model and Specification Analysis for an Index of Well-Being," MetaArXiv d5y26, Center for Open Science.
    2. Jordi Pons-Novell & Montserrat Guillen, 2022. "The Autonomous Capacity of the Elderly Population in Spain for Shopping and Preparing Meals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-16, November.

    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. Giorgio Calcagnini & Francesco Perugini, 2019. "A Well-Being Indicator for the Italian Provinces," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 149-177, February.
    2. Iacus Stefano M. & Salini Silvia & Siletti Elena & Porro Giuseppe, 2020. "Controlling for Selection Bias in Social Media Indicators through Official Statistics: a Proposal," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 36(2), pages 315-338, June.
    3. Venera Tomaselli & Mario Fordellone & Maurizio Vichi, 2021. "Building Well-Being Composite Indicator for Micro-Territorial Areas Through PLS-SEM and K-Means Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 407-429, January.
    4. Tiziana CARPI & Airo HINO & Stefano Maria IACUS & Giuseppe PORRO, 2022. "A Japanese Subjective Well-Being Indicator Based on Twitter Data [‘Collective Smile: Measuring Societal Happiness from Geolocated Images’]," Social Science Japan Journal, University of Tokyo and Oxford University Press, vol. 25(2), pages 273-296.
    5. Cantone, Giulio Giacomo & Tomaselli, Venera, 2024. "On the Coherence of Composite Indexes: Multiversal Model and Specification Analysis for an Index of Well-Being," MetaArXiv d5y26, Center for Open Science.
    6. O'Donnell, Gus & Oswald, Andrew J., 2015. "National well-being policy and a weighted approach to human feelings," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 59-70.
    7. Federica Cugnata & Silvia Salini & Elena Siletti, 2021. "Deepening Well-Being Evaluation with Different Data Sources: A Bayesian Networks Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-10, July.
    8. Vincenzo Patrizii & Anna Pettini & Giuliano Resce, 2017. "The Cost of Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(3), pages 985-1010, September.
    9. Francesco Sarracino & Kelsey J. OConnor, 2022. "A Measure of Well-being Efficiency Based on the World Happiness Report," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 43, pages 10-40, Fall.
    10. Ana Garcia-Bernabeu & José Manuel Cabello & Francisco Ruiz, 2022. "A Reference Point-Based Proposal to Build Regional Quality of Life Composite Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 11-30, November.
    11. Luzzati, T. & Gucciardi, G., 2015. "A non-simplistic approach to composite indicators and rankings: an illustration by comparing the sustainability of the EU Countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 25-38.
    12. Yukun Zhao & Feng Yu & Bo Jing & Xiaomeng Hu & Ang Luo & Kaiping Peng, 2019. "An Analysis of Well-Being Determinants at the City Level in China Using Big Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 973-994, June.
    13. Matteo Mazziotta, Adriano Pareto, 2013. "Methods For Constructing Composite Indices: One For All Or All For One?," RIEDS - Rivista Italiana di Economia, Demografia e Statistica - The Italian Journal of Economic, Demographic and Statistical Studies, SIEDS Societa' Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica, vol. 67(2), pages 67-80, April-Jun.
    14. Michalis Doumpos & Alexis Guyot & Emilios Galariotis & Constantin Zopounidis, 2020. "Assessing the quality of life in French municipalities: a multidimensional approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 293(2), pages 789-808, October.
    15. S. M. Iacus & G. Porro & S. Salini & E. Siletti, 2022. "An Italian Composite Subjective Well-Being Index: The Voice of Twitter Users from 2012 to 2017," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 471-489, June.
    16. Alex C. Michalos & Kenneth C. Land, 2018. "Replies to Our Commentators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(3), pages 1057-1078, February.
    17. Annalina Sarra & Eugenia Nissi, 2020. "A Spatial Composite Indicator for Human and Ecosystem Well-Being in the Italian Urban Areas," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 353-377, April.
    18. Reig-Mullor, Javier & Garcia-Bernabeu, Ana & Pla-Santamaria, David & Salas-Molina, Francisco, 2024. "Measuring quality of life in Europe: A new fuzzy multicriteria approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    19. Mohsen Joshanloo & Veljko Jovanović & Tim Taylor, 2019. "A multidimensional understanding of prosperity and well-being at country level: Data-driven explorations," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-31, October.
    20. Calcagnini, Giorgio & Perugini, Francesco, 2019. "Social capital and well-being in the Italian provinces," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

    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:spr:soinre:v:159:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-021-02761-0. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.