Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Regional well-being indicators and dispersion from a multidimensional perspective: evidence from Italy

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
The Annals of Regional Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Interest in measuring well-being, as opposed to the more traditional economic indicators of growth, has increased significantly over recent years. This paper aims to contribute to the empirical literature on well-being indicators and dispersion across regions in terms of both quality of life and economic progress. Italian regions are used as case studies and 10 different multidimensional determinants of well-being are considered: culture and free time; education; employment; environment; availability of essential public services; health; material living conditions; personal security; research and innovation; and the strength of social relations. We calculated, by applying principal component analysis, synthetic indicators for each well-being determinant and for each region so as to generate—again, by means of the same methodology—an index of overall well-being. The study was conducted for every year over the period 2004–2010. Results clearly show that differences in well-being between regions are not necessarily in line with those based on per capita GDP, suggesting a need to give more attention to quality-of-life features of economic progress in public policy goals and design. Furthermore, the paper looked at dispersion across regions and regional rank mobility over the same period. Italian regions have tended to become more similar in terms of well-being over time, but no evidence of significant intra-distributional mobility emerges.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The best-known alternative is the Human Development Index (HDI), which combines GDP per capita, literacy and average life expectancy into a single index.

  2. For a survey on the latter approach, see Bandura (2008), Stiglitz et al. (2009), Annoni and Weziak-Bialowolska (2012), Costanza et al. (2009). Bleys (2012) proposes a scheme for classifying 23 of the indicators available in the literature.

  3. The BES database is available at http://www.istat.it.

  4. These dimensions are: “subjective well-being”; “politics and institutions”; and “landscape and cultural heritage”.

  5. Before assuming the replicability of the current study and keeping only the first component, the cross-checking with the Kaiser criterion and the Scree test is always required.

  6. We find similar results by considering the minimum and maximum values of the principal component(s) extracted for each year.

  7. The literature refers to the long-run trend of the coefficient of variation as \(\sigma \)-convergence (Friedman 1992; Sala-I-Martin 1994): by adapting the Sala-I-Martin (1996) approach on GDP convergence across countries, regions are converging in the sense of \(\sigma \) if the dispersion of their well-being decreases over time. However, some authors assess convergence by referring to the mobility of units (countries or regions, for instance) over time within the given distribution of the relevant variable, known as \(\beta \)-convergence: if the relevant variable in regions which initially have a less advantageous position exhibits faster growth than the relevant variable in those regions that initially show higher values, there is absolute \(\beta \)-convergence. Although the concepts of \(\sigma \) and \(\beta \)-convergence are related, they do not always show up together: as a matter of fact, the existence of \(\beta \)-convergence is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for the existence of \(\sigma \)-convergence. Mobility within the distribution (\(\beta \)-convergence) does not ensure that dispersion diminishes over time (\(\sigma \)-convergence), while on the other hand, \(\sigma \)-convergence implies (is sufficient for) \(\beta \)-convergence, but is not a necessary condition (Sala-I-Martin 1996).

  8. Some authors use Kendall’s index of rank concordance as a nonparametric approach for assessing \(\beta \)-convergence, known as \(\gamma \)-convergence (Boyle and McCarthy 1997; Marchante et al. 2006).

  9. If more than one principal component is extracted for a dimension, we have more than one synthetic indicator for that ambit; for the RWBI, we have a single indicator.

  10. Alternatively, on the left side of the equation, one may see the predicted values of the RWBI. However, this does not make any difference in our analysis.

  11. The main disadvantage of this approach is that the effect on the dependent variable is related to the composite variables \(\theta _{d}\) instead of \(X_{d}\).

  12. The validation of the analysis is further assessed by verifying that, for each dimension, a) the structure of correlations meets the necessary threshold, with results from Kaiser’s measure of sampling adequacy falling into the acceptable range (above 0.50) for each year, both for the overall set of variables and individual variables, and b) the Bartlett test shows that nonzero correlations exist (see Hair et al. 2014, 103). For the sake of brevity, we neither comment nor show the results of these tests, but they are available from the authors on request.

  13. The correlation matrix for each well-being dimension and detailed information on the results of the principal component analysis are available from the authors on request.

  14. Italy is often looked at in terms of its sub-national areas. These are constituted by eight regions (Valle d’Aosta, Piemonte, Lombardia, Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Emilia Romagna and Veneto) for the North; four regions for the Centre (Toscana, Marche, Umbria and Lazio) and eight regions for the South, or Mezzogiorno (Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicilia and Sardegna).

  15. The coefficient of variation is also used in literature as a measure of inequality (Jordà and Sarabia 2014; Cowell and Fiorio 2011). We refer to both terms as synonyms.

References

  • Accetturo A, de Blasio G, Ricci L (2014) A tale of an unwanted outcome: transfers and local endowments of trust and cooperation. J Econ Behav Organ 102:74–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Annoni P, Kozovska K (2010) EU Regional Competitiveness Index 2010. http://www.jrc.ec.europa.eu/

  • Annoni P, Weziak-Bialowolska D (2012) Quality of life at the sub-national level: an operational example for the EU, Report by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. http://europa.eu/

  • Annoni P, Dijkstra L (2013) EU Regional Competitiveness Index. RCI 2013. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. http://europa.eu/

  • Aoki M (2001) Toward a comparative institutional analysis. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura R (2008) A survey of composite indices measuring country performance: 2008 update, working paper, United Nations Development Programme, Office of Development Studies, February, New York

  • Berloffa G, Modena F (2012) Economic well-being in Italy: the role of income insecurity and intergenerational inequality. J Econ Behav Organ 81(3):751–765

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bleys B (2012) Beyond GDP: classifying alternative measures for progress. Soc Indic Res 109(3):355–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blinder AS (1973) Wage discrimination: reduced form and structural estimates. J Hum Res 8:436–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyle GE, McCarthy T (1997) A simple measure of B-convergence. Oxf Bull Econ Stat 59(2):257–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bygren LO, Johansson S, Konlaan B, Grjibovski AM, Wilkinson AV, Sjöström M (2009) Attending cultural events and cancer mortality: a Swedish Cohort Study. Art Health 1(1):64–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Capriati M (2011) Spesa pubblica e Sviluppo Umano nelle Regioni Italiane. QA. La Questione Agraria 2:23–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlisle S, Hanlon P (2007) Well-being and consumer culture: a different kind of public health problem? Health Promot Int 22(3):261–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cersosimo D, Nisticò R (2008) Social capital in economics. In: Castiglione D, van Deth J, Wolleb G (eds) The handbook of social capital. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 386–410

    Google Scholar 

  • Cersosimo D, Nisticò R (2013) Un Paese Disuguale. Stato Mercato 98(agosto):265–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Cersosimo D, Viesti G (2013) Poli Tecnologici Meridionali, Sviluppo e Politiche Industriali. Economia e Politica Industriale 40(2):107–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chay KY, Greenstone M (2005) Does air quality matter? Evidence from the housing market. J Polit Econ 113(2):376–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark AE (2003) Unemployment as a social norm: psychological evidence from panel data. J Labor Econ 21(2):321–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark AE, Oswald AJ (1994) Unhappiness and unemployment. Econ J 104(May):648–659

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CNEL-ISTAT (2013) Il Benessere Equo e Sostenibile In Italia. http://www.istat.it

  • Coleman J (1990) Foundation of social theory. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Costanza R, Hart M, Posner S, Talberth J (2009) Beyond GDP: the need for new measures of progress, the pardee papers, 4 (January), Boston University

  • Courant PN, Porter RC (1981) Averting expenditure and the cost of pollution. J Environ Econ Manag 8(4):321–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowell FA, Fiorio CV (2011) Inequality decompositions. A reconciliation. J Econ Inequal 9(4):509–528

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darnton-Hill I, Nishida C, James WPT (2004) A life course approach to diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases. Public Health Nutr 7(1a):101–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daykin N, Orme J, Evans D, Salmonwith D, Mceachran M, Brain S (2008) The impact of participation in performing arts on adolescent health and behavior: a systematic review of literature. J Health Psychol 13(2):251–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener E (2009) Culture and well-being. Springer, Amsterdam

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Diener E, Chan MY (2011) Happy people live longer: subjective well-being contributes to health and longevity. Appl Psychol Health Well Being 3(1):1–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dodds S (1997) Towards a “science of sustainability”: improving the way ecological economics understands human well-being. Ecol Econ 23(2):95–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolan P, Metcalfe R (2012) The relationship between innovation and subjective well-being. Res Policy 41(8):1489–1498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolan P, Peasgood T, White M (2008) Do we really know what makes us happy? A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being. J Econ Psychol 29(1):94–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • European Commission (2013) Report from the commission: the urban and regional dimension of the crisis eighth progress report on economic. Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, Social and Territorial Cohesion

  • Felice E (2007) I Divari Regionali in Italia sulla base degli Indicatori Sociali (1971–2001). Rivista di Politica Economica 67(3–4):359–405

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrara AR, Nisticò R (2013) Well-being indicators and convergence across italian regions. Appl Res Qual Life 8(1):15–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fields GS (2003) Accounting for income inequality and its change: a new method, with application to the distribution of earnings in the United States. Research in labor economics, 22(1.38)

  • Fiorio CV, Jenkins SP (2008) INEQRBD: stata module to calculate regression-based inequality decomposition. Statistical Software Components S456960, Boston College Department of Economics

  • Fleurbaey M (2009) Beyond GDP: the quest for a measure of social welfare. J Econ Lit 47(4):1029–1075

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman M (1992) Do old fallacies ever die? J Econ Lit 30(4):2129–2132

    Google Scholar 

  • Galloway S (2006) Well-being and quality of life: measuring the benefits of culture and sport: a literature review. Scottish Executive Social Research, Edinburg

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerlach K, Stephan G (1996) A paper on unhappiness and unemployment in Germany. Econ Lett 52(3):325–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giannias D, Liargovas P, Manolas G (1999) Quality of life indices for analysing convergence in the European Union. Reg Stud 33(1):27–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grossi E, Tavano Blessi G, Sacco PL, Buscema M (2012) The interaction between culture, health and psychological well-being: data mining from the italian culture and well-being project. J Happiness Stud 13(1):129–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guiso L, Sapienza P, Zingales L (2004) The role of social capital in financial development. Am Econ Rev 94(3):526–556

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hair JF, Black WC, Babin BJ, Anderson RE (2014) Multivariate data analysis. Pearson New International Edition

  • Hanushek EA, Woessmann L (2008) The role of cognitive skills in economic development. J Econ Lit 46(3):607–668

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harmon C, Oosterbeek H, Walker I (2003) The returns to education: microeconomics. J Econ Surv 17(2):116–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrington W, Portney P (1987) Valuing the benefits of health and safety regulations. J Urban Econ 22(1):101–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hong S, Oxley L, McCann P (2012) A survey of the innovation surveys. J Econ Surv 26(3):420–444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huggins R, Davies W (2006) European Competitiveness Index 2006–07. http://www.cforic.org/downloads.php

  • Hyppa MT, Maki J, Impivaara O, Aromaa A (2006) Leisure participation predicts survival: a population-based study in Finland. Health Promot Int 21(1):5–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iuzzolino G, Pellegrini G, Viesti G (2011) Convergence among Italian Regions, 1861–2011. Economic history working papers 22. www.bancaditalia.it

  • Jordà V, Sarabia JM (2014) International convergence in well-being indicators. Soc Indic Res 00:1–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Konlaan BB, Bygren LO, Johansson S (2000) Visiting the cinema, concerts, museums or art exhibitions as determinant of survival: a swedish fourteen-year cohort follow-up. Scand J Public Health 28(3):174–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuznets S (1934) National income, 1929–1932. Senate document n. 124, 73d Congress, 2d session

  • Lavy V, Ebenstein A, Roth S (2012) Ambient air pollution, cognitive performance, and long term consequences for human capital formation. Mimeo, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

  • Lochner L, Moretti E (2004) The effect of education on crime: evidence from prison inmates, arrests, and self-reports. Am Econ Rev 94(1):155–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marchante AJ, Ortega B, Sanchez J (2006) The evolution of well-being in Spain (1980–2001): a regional analysis. Soc Indic Res 76(2):283–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCann P, Oxley L (2012) Innovation, entrepreneurship, geography and growth. J Econ Surv 26(3):373–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michalos AC (2008) Education, happiness and wellbeing. Soc Indic Res 87(3):347–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milligan K, Moretti E, Oreopoulos P (2004) Does education improve citizenship? Evidence from the United States and the United Kingdom. J Public Econ 88(9):1667–1695

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murias P, Novello S, Martinez F (2012) The regions of economic well-being in Italy and Spain. Reg Stud 46(6):793–816

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myrdal G (1957) Economic theory and underdeveloped regions. University Paperbacks, London

  • Nordhaus WD, Tobin J (1973) Is growth obsolete? In: Milton Moss (ed), The measurement of economic and social performance, Studies in income and wealth, Vol. 38, NBER, 1973, pp. 509–532. http://cowles.econ.yale.edu/P/cp/py1974.htm

  • O’Leary E (2001) Convergence of living standards among Irish regions: the roles of productivity, profit outflows and demography, 1960–1996. Reg Stud 35(3):197–205

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2008) Growing unequal? Income distribution and poverty in OECD countries. http://www.oecd.org

  • OECD (2010) Improving health and social cohesion through education. OECD Publishing. http://www.oecd.org

  • OECD (2011) Compendium of OECD well-being indicators. http://www.oecd.org

  • OECD (2013) How’s life? 2013. Measuring well-being. OECD Publishing. http://www.oecd.org

  • ONS (2011) Measuring what matters: national statistician’s on the national debate on measuring national well-being. http://www.ons.gov.uk

  • Oreopoulos P, Salvanes KG (2011) Priceless: the non pecuniary benefits of schooling. J Econ Perspect 25(1):159–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osberg L, Sharpe A (2005) How should we measure the “economic” aspect of well-being? Rev Income Wealth 51(2):311–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rätzel S (2012) Labour supply, life satisfaction, and the (dis)utility of work. Scand J Econ 114(4):1160–1181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sala-I-Martin X (1994) Regional cohesion: evidence and theories of regional growth and convergence. Eur Econ Rev 40(6):1325–1352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sala-I-Martin X (1996) The classical approach to convergence analysis. Econ J 106(437):1019–1036

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwab K, Porter ME (2008) The global competitiveness report 2008-2009. World Economic Forum, Geneva. http://www.weforum.org/pdf/GCR08/GCR08.pdf

  • Sen A (1985) Commodities and capabilities. North Holland, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen A (2000) Development as freedom. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Shorrocks AF (1982) Inequality decomposition by factor components. Econometrica 50(1):193–211

  • Sianesi B, Van Reenen J (2003) The returns to education: macroeconomics. J Econ Surv 17(2):157–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siegel S (1956) Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Solow R (1956) A contribution to the theory of economic growth. Q J Econ 70(1):101–108

  • Solow R (1990) The labour market as a social institution. Basil Blackwell, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz J, Sen A, Fitoussi JP (2009) Report by the commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress, Paris

  • Swinburn BA, Caterson I, Seidell JC, James WPT (2004) Diet, nutrition and the prevention of excess weight gain and obesity. Public Health Nutr 7(1A):123–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Theodoropoulou S, Zuleeg F (2009) What do citizens want. Well-being measurement and its importance for european social policy-making. EPC issue paper (59)

  • UNDP (1990) United Nations Development Programme, human development report. Oxford University Press, New York

  • UNDP (2010) United Nations Development Programme, human development report. Oxford University Press, New York

  • Vila LE (2000) The non-monetary benefits of education. Eur J Edu 35(1):21–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WHO (2010) Global recommendations on physical activity for health. WHO Press, Geneva

  • WHO (2013) Joint meeting of experts on targets and indicators for health and well-being in health 2020. Copenhagen, Denmark. http://www.who.int

  • WHO (2014) Obesity. http://www.who.int/topics/obesity/en

  • Winkelmann L, Winkelmann R (1998) Why are the unemployed so unhappy? Evidence from panel data. Economica 65(257):1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe BL, Zuvekas S (1997) Nonmarket outcomes of schooling. Int J Edu Res 27(6):491–502

    Google Scholar 

  • Yakovlev P, Leguizamon S (2012) Ignorance is not bliss: on the role of education on subjective well-being. J Socio Econ 41(6):806–815

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zivin JG, Neidell M (2013) Environment, health, and human capital. J Econ Lit 51(3):689–730

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Statistics and Finance, University of Calabria, Ponte Pietro Bucci, Cubo 1/C, Rende, Italy

    Antonella Rita Ferrara & Rosanna Nisticò

Authors
  1. Antonella Rita Ferrara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rosanna Nisticò
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rosanna Nisticò.

Additional information

We would like to dedicate this article to the memory of Giovanni Anania.

We wish to thank Giovanni Anania, Michele Capriati, Sierdjan Koster, Philip McCann and Viktor Venhorst for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of the paper.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (docx 2162 KB)

Supplementary material 2 (xlsx 206 KB)

Appendix

Appendix

See Table  8.

Table 8 Well-being dimensions: indicators, definitions and sources (database subsections in parenthesis)
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ferrara, A.R., Nisticò, R. Regional well-being indicators and dispersion from a multidimensional perspective: evidence from Italy. Ann Reg Sci 55, 373–420 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-015-0704-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-015-0704-y

JEL Classification

Search

Navigation