IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aaea04/20351.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

A Latent Variable Mimic Approach To Inferring The Quality Of Life

Author

Listed:
  • Rahman, Tauhidur
  • Mittelhammer, Ronald C.
  • Wandschneider, Philip R.

Abstract

This paper makes three principal contributions. First, we propose a new estimator for the unobservable variable models with endogenous causes. We show that under factor analysis type of assumptions, Robinson and Ferrara (1977)'s procedure is not fully efficient, and a more efficient procedure can be obtained by merging Robinson and Ferrara' procedure with that in Joreskog and Goldberger (1975) procedure. The asymptotic properties of the new estimator are compared with these two estimators and results indicate that, with our mixture approach, significant efficiency gains can be achieved. Second, we model the Quality of life (QOL) as an unobservable or latent link variable between observable causes and observable effects, which mitigates problem of bias, inconsistency, and arbitrary weightings of explanatory factors. Third, we estimate and compare QOL indices for 43 countries for the year 1990s, noting differences between countries and over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Rahman, Tauhidur & Mittelhammer, Ronald C. & Wandschneider, Philip R., 2004. "A Latent Variable Mimic Approach To Inferring The Quality Of Life," 2004 Annual meeting, August 1-4, Denver, CO 20351, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea04:20351
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.20351
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/20351/files/sp04ra01.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.20351?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. R. M. Solow, 1974. "Intergenerational Equity and Exhaustible Resources," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(5), pages 29-45.
    2. Geir B. Asheim, 1997. "Adjusting Green NNP to Measure Sustainability," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(3), pages 355-370, September.
    3. repec:bla:scandj:v:96:y:1994:i:2:p:253-56 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Goldberger, Arthur S, 1972. "Maximum-Likelihood Estimation of Regressions Containing Unobservable Independent Variables," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, February.
    5. Martin L. Weitzman, 1976. "On the Welfare Significance of National Product in a Dynamic Economy," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 90(1), pages 156-162.
    6. Desai, Meghnad, 1991. "Human development : Concepts and measurement," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(2-3), pages 350-357, April.
    7. Zellner, Arnold, 1970. "Estimation of Regression Relationships Containing Unobservable Independent Variables," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 11(3), pages 441-454, October.
    8. D. N. Rao & R. L. Bhat, 1991. "Estimation of A Community Health Status Index on the Basis of a MIMIC Model," Indian Economic Review, Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, vol. 26(1), pages 51-63, January.
    9. Ravallion, Martin, 1997. "Good and bad growth: The human development reports," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 631-638, May.
    10. Srinivasan, T N, 1994. "Human Development: A New Paradigm or Reinvention of the Wheel?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 238-243, May.
    11. Robinson, P M, 1974. "Identification, Estimation and Large-Sample Theory for Regressions Containing Unobservable Variables," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 15(3), pages 680-692, October.
    12. Milton Friedman, 1957. "A Theory of the Consumption Function," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie57-1.
    13. Ram, Rati, 1982. "Composite indices of physical quality of life, basic needs fulfilment, and income : A principal component representation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 227-247, October.
    14. Van Vliet, ReneC. J. A. & Van Praag, Bernard M. S., 1987. "Health status estimation on the basis of MIMIC-health care models," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 27-42, March.
    15. B. Fine & K. Fine, 1974. "Social Choice and Individual Ranking I," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(3), pages 303-322.
    16. repec:bla:scandj:v:99:y:1997:i:3:p:355-70 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. B. Fine & K. Fine, 1974. "Social Choice and Individual Rankings II," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(4), pages 459-475.
    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. Giuseppina Guagnano & Maria Rita Sebastiani, 2018. "Away from Dissatisfaction, Closer to Well-Being: A Multidimensional Synthetic Measure," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 977-997, April.

    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. Dasgupta, Partha, 2000. "Valuation and evaluation: measuring the quality of life and evaluating policy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 6657, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Rahman, Tauhidur & Mittelhammer, Ron C. & Wandschneider, Philip R., 2011. "Measuring quality of life across countries: A multiple indicators and multiple causes approach," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 43-52, February.
    3. Miles Cahill & Nicolás Sánchez, 2001. "Using principal components to produce an economic and social development index: An application to Latin America and the U.S," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 29(3), pages 311-329, September.
    4. Sayel Basel & K. U. Gopakumar & R. Prabhakara Rao, 2020. "Broad-based index for measurement of development," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 22(1), pages 182-206, June.
    5. Ridha Chkoundali & Houda Haffoudhi & Houda Abdenneji, 2011. "Institutional Sphere Contribution to Human Development: An Institutional Approach," Working Papers 629, Economic Research Forum, revised 09 Jan 2011.
    6. Leandro Prados de la Escosura, 2010. "Improving Human Development: A Long‐Run View," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 841-894, December.
    7. Jeni Klugman & Francisco Rodríguez & Hyung-Jin Choi, 2011. "The HDI 2010: new controversies, old critiques," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 9(2), pages 249-288, June.
    8. Toman, Michael & Pezzey, John C., 2002. "The Economics of Sustainability: A Review of Journal Articles," RFF Working Paper Series dp-02-03, Resources for the Future.
    9. Figueroa B., Eugenio & Orihuela R., Carlos & Calfucura T., Enrique, 2010. "Green accounting and sustainability of the Peruvian metal mining sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 156-167, September.
    10. Dasgupta, Partha, 2000. "Valuation and Evaluation: Measuring the Quality of Life and Evaluating Policy," Discussion Papers 10560, Resources for the Future.
    11. Elizabeth Stanton, 2007. "The Human Development Index: A History," Working Papers wp127, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    12. Eugenio Figueroa B. & Enrique Calfucura T., 2002. "Depreciación del Capital Natural, Ingreso y Crecimiento Sostenible: Lecciones de la Experiencia Chilena," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 138, Central Bank of Chile.
    13. Mehmet Pinar & Thanasis Stengos & Nikolas Topaloglou, 2013. "Measuring human development: a stochastic dominance approach," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 69-108, March.
    14. Nicola Amendola & Giacomo Gabbuti & Giovanni Vecchi, 2023. "On some problems of using the Human Development Index in economic history," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 27(4), pages 477-505.
    15. Andrés Gómez-Lobo E., 2001. "Sustainable development and natural resource accounting in a small open economy: a methodological clarification," Estudios de Economia, University of Chile, Department of Economics, vol. 28(2 Year 20), pages 203-216, December.
    16. Rahman, Tauhidur & Mittelhammer, Ronald C. & Wandschneider, Philip R., 2003. "A Sensitivity Analysis Of Quality Of Life Indices Across Countries," 2003 Annual meeting, July 27-30, Montreal, Canada 22045, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    17. Geir Asheim & Taoyuan Wei, 2009. "Sectoral Income," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 42(1), pages 65-87, January.
    18. Partha Sen, 2020. "Macroeconomics and the Environment: A Selective Survey," CESifo Working Paper Series 8159, CESifo.
    19. Pezzey, John C.V., 2001. "Exact Measures of Income in Two Capital-Resource Economies," 2001 Conference (45th), January 23-25, 2001, Adelaide, Australia 125834, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    20. Ayumi Onuma, 1999. "Sustainable consumption, sustainable development, and green net national product," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 2(3), pages 187-197, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Research Methods/ Statistical Methods;

    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:ags:aaea04:20351. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaeaaea.html .

    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.