Document Type : Promotional scientific article
Authors
1
Master of Science in Islamic Economics, University of Qom, Qom, Iran.
2
Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Qom, Qom, Iran.
Abstract
Introduction and objectives: Well-being has a broad and complex concept, which in order to theorize about it, requires extensive attention to social processes and activities at different levels of family, friends, labor market, governmental and non-governmental institutions, and educational, recreational activities, etc. Welfare is one of the fundamental concepts of economics and one of the important socio-economic issues that has long been raised in scientific schools, economic texts, communities, and organizations. On the other hand, in developed countries, one of the important goals of economic policymakers is to improve the quality, standard, and level of well-being of life in society. In developing countries, economic growth is not the only goal; rather, these countries, along with developed countries, consider increasing social welfare as one of the main goals and criteria for development (Sadeghi et al., 2010, p. 144). Measuring well-being is one of the foundations of public policy in societies and is also considered one of the characteristics of development. The status of the welfare index and its measurement methods can play a significant role in determining its compliance with the reality of society. However, comparing the different perspectives of experts will further reveal their differences and similarities in the topic of welfare and measuring its index. A review of the research background shows that although studies have been conducted on methods for measuring well-being indices, such as Sharp's research in 1999, which examined five composite well-being indices with 22 variables; but, no study has been conducted in the Persian language on the comparative study of methods for measuring the welfare index and determining their strengths, weaknesses, and classification. The present study examined 9 composite indicators of well-being with 46 variables, which is one of its differences from previous studies in this regard.
Method: The necessity of the problem and the main question of this article was an analytical and comparative study that, using a library and documentary method, has compared the components of composite indicators and found commonalities and differences between them and the frequency of intersections, while conducting a comprehensive review of the literature on welfare and indicators which, by means of comparative study, can be used for policymaking and groundwork to provide the necessary national data for experts to adopt appropriate public policies. In order to find the commonalities and differences between composite indicators of well-being measurement, we first introduced each one separately and then, by focusing on the variables of the indicators, we examined the breadth of the components together.
Results: The results indicate that the Legatum Welfare Index has the most components among the compared indices, and education, health, unemployment, income distribution, external debt, and pollution are among the most frequent components among the composite indices. Variables such as sanctions have been ignored in measuring well-being. Also, the standards defined for well-being indicators have shortcomings and are subject to subjective value biases and prejudices.
Discussion and Conclusion: Since the aim of the study was to compare and contrast methods for measuring the welfare index, the most important composite indicators have been introduced, which include the economic welfare index, the economic welfare index, the real progress index, the social health index, the standard of living index, the human development index, the quality of life index, the social progress index, and finally the Legatum Prosperity Index. After stating the indicators, criteria such as public policy objective, having a proper basis in terms of economic and social theory, possibility of separation, ability to adapt to time series, reliability and validity of the composite index and its components, and usefulness for policymakers were used to evaluate the composite indicators. According to Sharpe's opinion, in terms of average ranking, the economic welfare index is introduced as the index that best meets the six criteria discussed and then the social health index, the social progress index, the economic well-being index, and finally the standard of living index are in the next ranks. The Legatum Index, developed by the Legatum Institute, is the most comprehensive in terms of well-being dimensions. For this reason, in Table 11, a comparison of the aforementioned composite indices was made with 46 variables, with the Legatum Index and the Economic Welfare Index ranking first and the Human Development Index ranking last. Education and health were among the most important variables that had the highest frequency among the aforementioned indicators, which indicates their importance in measuring well-being. Also, variables such as sanctions are not seen in the methods of measuring the well-being index.
Conflict of interest declaration: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare related to the content of this article.
Acknowledgements: We thank the anonymous referees for their helpful comments, which greatly helped to improve our work.
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