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    <title>EconStor Collection: Discussion Papers, Abteilung Ungleichheit und soziale Integration, WZB</title>
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    <title>A "happiness test" for the new measures of national well-being: How much better than GDP are they?</title>
    <link>http://hdl.handle.net/10419/60235</link>
    <description>Title: A "happiness test" for the new measures of national well-being: How much better than GDP are they?
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Authors: Delhey, Jan; Kroll, Christian
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Abstract: Across the globe there is growing skepticism about the usefulness of GDP as a measure of national well-being. Consequently, several alternative quality-of-life (QOL) measures were developed which either aim at healing the GDP, complementing it, or replacing it. This chapter portrays some of these new measures and puts them to a happiness test: compared to the GDP, are the new QOL measures better able to capture what makes people happy and satisfied with their lives? Using data for 34 OECD societies, we can show that from a happiness perspective, there is-surprisingly-little wrong with the GDP, and most alternative QOL measures do not outperform GDP. Yet, one measure actually does a better job: the OECD's Better Life Index which is particularly effective when it comes to predicting subjective well-being in the richest OECD countries. In sum, the chapter demonstrates that a happiness perspective can add important insights along the way to facilitate the search for a new, widely accepted, internationally comparable measure of well-being.</description>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://hdl.handle.net/10419/60235">
    <title>A "happiness test" for the new measures of national well-being: How much better than GDP are they?</title>
    <link>http://hdl.handle.net/10419/60235</link>
    <description>Title: A "happiness test" for the new measures of national well-being: How much better than GDP are they?
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Authors: Delhey, Jan; Kroll, Christian
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Abstract: Across the globe there is growing skepticism about the usefulness of GDP as a measure of national well-being. Consequently, several alternative quality-of-life (QOL) measures were developed which either aim at healing the GDP, complementing it, or replacing it. This chapter portrays some of these new measures and puts them to a happiness test: compared to the GDP, are the new QOL measures better able to capture what makes people happy and satisfied with their lives? Using data for 34 OECD societies, we can show that from a happiness perspective, there is-surprisingly-little wrong with the GDP, and most alternative QOL measures do not outperform GDP. Yet, one measure actually does a better job: the OECD's Better Life Index which is particularly effective when it comes to predicting subjective well-being in the richest OECD countries. In sum, the chapter demonstrates that a happiness perspective can add important insights along the way to facilitate the search for a new, widely accepted, internationally comparable measure of well-being.</description>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://hdl.handle.net/10419/56805">
    <title>The politics of automatic stabilization mechanisms in public pension programs</title>
    <link>http://hdl.handle.net/10419/56805</link>
    <description>Title: The politics of automatic stabilization mechanisms in public pension programs
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Authors: Weaver, Kent
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Abstract: Demographic and fiscal pressures have increased pressures on governments in most wealthy countries to reduce the generosity of their public pension programs. Mechanisms that automatically adjust public pension levels to take account of factors such as increased life expectancy and slower economic growth are appealing to politicians because it saves them from having to take loss-imposing actions that are likely to incur political blame. This paper analyzes the financial and political potential of automatic stabilizing mechanisms (ASMs), beginning with a discussion of design issues and alternatives. This is followed by a discussion of potential adoption, implementation, and sustainability challenges for automatic stabilizing mechanisms and a review of experiences with stabilization mechanisms in three countries: Canada, Sweden and Germany. The paper argues that ASMs are vulnerable to erosion over time, especially when the losses that the ASM would impose are substantial, and when elections are impending. Preserving the integrity of ASMs is most likely where the parties that initially supported their adoption continue to be able to sustain cartel-like behavior with respect to pension policymaking. Overall, the analysis in this paper suggests that automatic stabilizing mechanisms are no panacea for the problems of countries facing serious long-term pension financing problems.</description>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://hdl.handle.net/10419/56804">
    <title>Family dissolution and public policies in the United States: Social provisions and institutional changes since the 1980s</title>
    <link>http://hdl.handle.net/10419/56804</link>
    <description>Title: Family dissolution and public policies in the United States: Social provisions and institutional changes since the 1980s
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Authors: Grell, Britta
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Abstract: As a consequence of changing patterns of family formation and dissolution in the western world, national welfare institutions confront new demands to accommodate such issues as disproportionate poverty risks among single-mother families, increased requirements for non-parental child care arrangements, and the regulation of child maintenance and support. This paper documents and analyzes the most important social and legal provisions and changes in the United States since the 1980s with implications for the well-being of separated parents and their children, starting with alimony reform legislation to maternity and parental leave programs. It concludes that compared to Germany the institutional and financial support of lowincome custodial parents, the majority of whom are women, is still rather limited. While family-friendly policies - most of them based on employment and the tax system - have been expanded since the 1980s, the US welfare systems provides less financial and legal assistance to vulnerable families with children.</description>
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