Multidimensional Well-Being at the Top: Evidence for Germany

This paper employs a multidimensional approach for the measurement of well-being at the top of the distribution using German SOEP micro data. Besides income as traditional indicator for material well-being, we include health as a proxy for nonmaterial quality of life as well as self-reported satisfaction with life as dimensions. We find that one third of the German population is well-off in at least one dimension but only one percent in all three dimensions simultaneously. While the distribution of income has become more concentrated at the top, the concentration at the top of the multidimensional well-being distribution has decreased over time. Moreover, health as well as life satisfaction contribute quite substantially to multidimensional wellbeing at the top which has important policy implications.Multidimensional measurement, well-being, Germany

How to reach compromises in life satisfaction: a conflicting and multidimensional task

Recent concerns around the importance of job and life satisfaction on firms’ productivity have been brought to the policy debate in the European Union. Irrespective of the numerous scientific publications that have been studying the main determinants of workers’ life satisfaction, a gap remains on how to grasp compromises between these. The importance of finding such compromises can be particularly relevant, in face of the multiple factors, seldom intertwined and at the same time conflicting, which have a well-known influence on workers’ well-being. Therefore, policymakers should be supported with sound methodological tools to help them shape policies that will further promote workers’ life satisfaction. With this reasoning in mind, we have developed a multiobjective interval programming model through the use of econometric techniques, where four different workers’ life satisfaction determinants (i.e. satisfaction with education, present work, family life and social life) are viewed as objective functions. Furthermore, we have made a separate assessment of the factors that have an influence on life satisfaction for both genders, because of the discrepancies that might arise with this regard. Overall, we were able to conclude that female workers usually have to devote more time to their work than men to get the highest levels of satisfaction regardless of the features under evaluation. Additionally, having one child is sufficient to obtain the highest levels of well-being both for female and male workers. One of the possible implications of these findings is that the existing work-family priorities are clearly not in line with the current falling birth rates all over Europe. Thus, new supportive workplace policies should be in place that could change people’s priorities regarding their work and family life.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad under research project ECO2017-88883-R PAI group SEJ-532 Fundação para a Ciência e aTecnologia (FCT) under project grant UID/MULTI/00308/201

Equity in the City: On Measuring Urban (Ine)Quality of Life

We merge contributions from the New Urban Economics and inequality measurement to assess quality of life (QOL) in a given city. We take the point of view of a city planner in favor of an even accessibility to amenities within the city. Instead of the average value of amenities computed in the Roback (1982) QOL index, our index captures the value of its multidimensional "certainty equivalent". We apply this methodology to derive a QOL index for the city of Milan.Urban quality of life, amenities, hedonic prices, inequality index, just city.

Evaluating the Improvement of Quality of Life in Rural Areas

The research starts from the necessity to create specific tools for evaluating the impacts of rural development policies on fragile areas. The study is motivated by the need for developing an appropriate evaluation method that leads to gather meaningful information for a broader understanding of the quality of life in rural areas, including the subjective well-being’s dimensions and its determinants and feeds the policy designs on this specific domain. The multidimensional nature of quality of life is a main challenge in terms of evaluation. Indeed, within the Rural Development Programmes 2007-2013, the enhancement of the quality of life in rural areas is one of the major strategic objectives to be addressed by a menu of measures. Selections of some current literature on the multidimensional nature of quality of life have been used as conceptual basis for analysing the extent to which the European evaluation framework for rural development programmes (EC 1999, 2006, 2010) - based on the intervention logic model, the use of economic indicators and evaluative questions - is able to capture the relevant dimensions of well-being rural people’s lives. A part of the research is based on the analysis of ex-post evaluations carried out in Italy. The evaluations are expected to assess the improvement of quality of life in rural areas as effect of programmes’ implementation. The paper provides two different experiences of quantification of quality of life in rural area: a synthetic measure of marginality as a proxy of quality of life indicators (in Piedmont) and a synthetic index of quality of life (in Emilia Romagna). The paper proposes a wider integrated evaluation approach to be used in the context of the evaluation of impacts of rural development programmes, that through the combined utilization of quantitative and qualitative indicators and additional evaluative questions, allows a more comprehensive assessment of quality of life in rural areas.evaluation, quality of life, marginality, qualitative indicators, Agricultural and Food Policy, O180,

Multidimensional Well-Being at the Top: Evidence for Germany

This paper employs a multidimensional approach for the measurement of well-being at the top of the distribution using German SOEP micro data. Besides income as traditional indicator for material well-being, we include health as a proxy for nonmaterial quality of life as well as self-reported satisfaction with life as dimensions. We find that one third of the German population is well-off in at least one dimension but only one percent in all three dimensions simultaneously. While the distribution of income has become more concentrated at the top, the concentration at the top of the multidimensional well-being distribution has decreased over time. Moreover, health as well as life satisfaction contribute quite substantially to multidimensional wellbeing at the top which has important policy implications.multidimensional measurement, well-being, Germany

Multidimensional crisis and life sustainability

En el presente texto se propone una mirada a la crisis desde la sostenibilidad de la vida como alternativa a la perspectiva hegemónica focalizada en los mercados. Se argumenta que la crisis es multidimensional y acumulada, civilizatoria, y que precede al estallido financiero. Se analizan sus consecuencias en términos de los procesos vitales y se propone abrir dos debates para afrontarla: qué entender por vida que merezca la pena ser vivida y cómo construir una responsabilidad colectiva en la generación de sus condiciones de posibilidad. Finalmente, se argumenta que es necesario devolver la economía al terreno de la discusión política.This text makes an argument for putting at the center sustainability of life when understanding the crisis, therefore challenging the hegemony of market-oriented perspectives. The crisis is characterized as a multidimensional and accumulated process preceding the financial meltdown. Its consequences in terms of life dynamics are explored. It is argued that there is an urgent need to open up two debates: what is a live that is worthwhile living, and how a collective responsibility in setting its conditions of possibility could be achieved. Finally the case is made for bringing economic debates back into the political realm

Subjective wellbeing, sense of humor and psychological health in hemodialysis patients

Objective: To investigate the relationship between satisfaction with life in general, sense of humor, and anxiety, depression and stress with subjective happiness in chronic kidney disease patients undergoing hemodialysis. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional and correlational study was developed in two units of the Diaverum dialysis clinic and one hospital unit, with 183 chronic kidney disease patients undergoing hemodialysis. An instrument was used to characterize the sociodemographic and clinical profile of the sample (age, gender, nationality, education, occupation, marital status, dialysis sessions length, presence of hypertension and diabetes): the subjective happiness scale; the satisfaction with life in general; depression, anxiety and stress scale 21; and multidimensional sense of humor scale. Inferential procedures included Spearman correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression adjusting to age, marital status, professional activity and diabetes.Results: Subjective Happiness was positively correlated with satisfaction with life in general, and the three dimensions of Sense of Humor. Nevertheless, subjective happiness was negatively correlated with stress / anxiety and depression. Satisfaction with life in general, humor production and social use of humor, and attitude towards humor had a positive relationship with subjective happiness. However, depression had a negative relationship with subjective happiness. Conclusions: Higher levels of subjective happiness were associated with higher levels of satisfaction with life in general, and sense of humor, however they were also associated with lower levels of depression in patients undergoing hemodialysis

Towards a competency model for adaptive assessment to support lifelong learning

Adaptive assessment provides efficient and personalised routes to establishing the proficiencies of learners. We can envisage a future in which learners are able to maintain and expose their competency profile to multiple services, throughout their life, which will use the competency information in the model to personalise assessment. Current competency standards tend to over simplify the representation of competency and the knowledge domain. This paper presents a competency model for evaluating learned capability by considering achieved competencies to support adaptive assessment for lifelong learning. This model provides a multidimensional view of competencies and provides for interoperability between systems as the learner progresses through life. The proposed competency model is being developed and implemented in the JISC-funded Placement Learning and Assessment Toolkit (mPLAT) project at the University of Southampton. This project which takes a Service-Oriented approach will contribute to the JISC community by adding mobile assessment tools to the E-framework