Publication
Title
What if we voted on the weights of a multidimensional well-being index? An illustration with Flemish data
Author
Abstract
There is a widespread consensus that well-being is a multidimensional notion. To quantify multidimensional well-being, information on the relative weights of the different dimensions is essential. There is, however, considerable disagreement in the literature on the most appropriate weighting scheme to use. Making use of a recent data set for Flanders, we calculate and compare various common weighting schemes, which are uniformly applied to all individuals. We find that a policymaker would identify different groups of individuals as being worst off depending on the scheme that is chosen. In order to compare and evaluate the weighting schemes, we simulate the support each scheme would get in a voting procedure. Weighting schemes that obtain higher support reflect better the priorities of the respondents and suffer less from the problem of paternalism that is inherent to any common weighting scheme.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Fiscal studies / Institute for Fiscal Studies [London] - London, 1979, currens
Publication
London : Institute for Fiscal Studies , 2013
ISSN
0143-5671 [print]
1475-5890 [online]
DOI
10.1111/J.1475-5890.2013.12008.X
Volume/pages
34 :3 (2013) , p. 315-332
ISI
000323927500003
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 08.11.2013
Last edited 02.10.2024
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