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Income and hours worked are insufficient to measure job quality yet these domains dominate literature aimed at understanding its relationship with wellbeing. More so, literature considering job quality in any manner has an overwhelming tendency to look at advanced economies, despite "decent work" being a key policy aim of many agencies and organisations working in emerging countries. This article tests the validity of the concept of job quality as a determinant of welfare in the developing world by generating four six-component indices using bespoke and unique data collected in Kyrgyzstan. Cross-sectional analysis of the performance of these indices against ones comprising only income and hours worked show no relationship between job quality and wellbeing in the latter case but a strong and positive relationship in the former. Jointly, this shows both the importance of more suitably measuring job quality in all contexts and the importance of policy objectives that aim to stimulate better, as well as more, jobs in the developing world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper constructs a weighted measure of the multidimensional concept of gender inequality: the Multidimensional Gender Inequality Index (MGII). Multiple Correspondence Analysis is used to rank the separate forms in which gender inequality appears in developed and developing countries respectively. Eight dimensions were identified as relevant for economic purposes: identity, physical integrity, intra-family laws, political activity, education, health, access to economic resources, and economic activity. In the 109 developing countries considered, gender inequality in the identity and family dimensions are particularly severe for women: these dimensions hence have greater weight in the MGII. However, in OECD countries gender inequality occurs mainly in the political and family dimensions. Nevertheless, the family sphere remains particularly important for gender inequality, whatever the level of development. The MGII is a non-linear weighted composite indicator of gender inequality which yields a country ranking. The South-Asian region is calculated to be the most unequal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green national accounting has existed in a variety of forms for just over thirty years. Having essentially begun as environmental cost adjustments to Gross Domestic Product, green national accounting now includes such indicators as the Genuine Progress Indicator, Genuine Savings, and the Ecological Footprint. This paper serves as an overview or stock-take of green national accounting initiatives and as a means of assessing the major developments since the early 1970s. It is concluded that a suite of indicators is required to convey a complete picture of a nation’s sustainable development performance. In addition, economic indicators need to be supplemented by biophysical indicators, although the latter should never be incorporated directly into national income accounts since they serve as indicators of ecological sustainability, not of economic performance. Finally, the fact that a number of recently established indicators are still in the embryonic stage of development means that considerable refinement is necessary before they are likely to be broadly accepted by the policy-making community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Korea is widely known as an Asian model of economic development and democratization. Yet until now, research has not shown whether the country's successful transition to democracy and market capitalism has enabled ordinary citizens to experience a life of happiness and satisfaction in their private and public lives. To address this question, this study analyzes a 2002 Euromodule survey of the Korean electorate designed to appraise the quality of life as a whole and in its various important domains. Results of the analysis reveal that a substantial minority of South Koreans still leads undesirable lives full of unhappiness and dissatisfaction. Furthermore, among the socioeconomically deprived, more people report deteriorations rather than improvements in their living conditions over the past five years. On the basis of these findings, we conclude that the surging forces of democratization and marketization can hinder ordinary people from experiencing a better quality of life by motivating them to compare themselves with other people in better situations to a greater extent than they did under past circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluates the composite indices of development. Framework for the evaluation of development indicators; Content of composite indices of development; Technique and method of composite indexing; Composite indices of development in comparative application; Focus of the indices; Clarity, simplicity and flexibility of the indices; Availability of composite indices of development.

Poses a development economics question regarding whether a country should prioritize improvements in the society's well-being or the country's economic upliftment. Causal priority between human well-being and per capita gross real product (PCGRP); Correlation between the core indicators of human and economic well-being across income groups and PCGRP.