Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/125713 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 56
Publisher: 
WWWforEurope, Vienna
Abstract: 
Proposed alternatives to GDP as a measure of social welfare or human progress are briefly evaluated. Four main categories are considered, namely ISEW and GPI based on corrections of GDP, sustainable or green(ed) GDP, genuine savings/investments and composite indexes. All these alternatives turn out to suffer from various shortcomings. Nevertheless, several of them represent a considerable improvement over GDP information in approximating social welfare. This gives support to the idea that we should not wait to give less importance and attention to GDP (per capita) information in public decision-making until a perfect alternative indicator is available.
Subjects: 
Composite indicators
economic growth
externalities
genuine savings
green GDP
happiness
informal sector
information failure
ISEW
status goods
sustainable income
JEL: 
D60
E01
O11
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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