Conference Agenda

Since the release of the 1990 Human Development Report, several multidimensional indices of well-being have been developed. However, most, lack a proper theoretical underpinning, and focus on averages glossing over societal inequality as well as neglecting the least advantaged. We propose a new multidimensional index of well-being—IoW—that builds on systems theory, Amartya Sen’s capability approach and John Rawls’ theory of distributive justice. We base our analysis on the Alkire-Foster method but propose substantial modifications. These changes are implemented using Categorical Principal Component Analysis, Cluster Analysis, and introducing a measure of dispersion—the inequality penalty—to the aggregation notation to capture societal inequality. Following this modified AF method, we—due to the advantage of flexibility—use synthetic data to illustrate the development of the final index. Thanks to the dynamic properties of the AF method, our results can provide differentiated insights into population sub-groups, revealing which people have the conditions for well-being in society and indicator breakdown, allowing for greater granularity. The IoW has the potential to shape policies that foster holistic development and societal well-being.

In this paper we introduce a measure of well-being efficiency to examine society`s ability to transform its resources into subjective well-being. Our aim is to shift the attention from levels of well-being to countries’ ability to transform their resources into subjective well-being. We use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a non-parametric method, which measures the relative efficiency of the compared units. Our dataset consists of a balanced panel of 121 countries observed from 2006 to 2023. The output variable is the Life Ladder, which is an evaluation of life based on individuals’ answers about their current lives using a scale (ladder) from 0 to 10. The variables that represent available resources are per capita Gross Domestic product, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom of choice, absence of corruption and generosity - all aggregated at country level. Initial results indicate that countries with a high well-being efficiency are not only those that have a high subjective well-being score (Denmark, Canada, Finland), but also countries such as Costa Rica, Greece and Mexico. At the bottom of the rank, we find mostly African countries (Zimbabwe and Tanzania) or countries that have suffered war or humanitarian crisis (Afghanistan, Yemen). We also find that well-being efficiency has increased on average indicating that people have managed to achieve greater levels of well-being.

The impact of microfinance on well-being has centred on micro (household) level with inconclusive findings and sparse research on transformative effects to larger-scale development. We exploit a unique roll-out expansion of a local bank to assess the fine-grained causal impact of formal microcredit on rural community development and investigate the moderating role of communist agents in financial branches. We utilise multiple big and administrative datasets across disciplines matched with individual surveys. The constructed panel includes 16,200 administrative villages every year between 2012 and 2023, combined with the bank administrative data on transactions for every branch since 2018 when the bank expanded its branches to villages on a rollout basis. We estimate a difference-in-difference specification and find positive and long-term impact of access to microfinance on village development. Villages where village branch managers held communist party membership developed better than villages where managers were not communists. Communist managers appear to be more pro-social and rational, make more efforts in both financial and public services than non-communist managers, implying a hybrid of economic and social motivations and behaviours explaining the moderating effect of communists.

The impact of climate change on human mobility has drawn increasing attention from researchers and the public. In sub-Saharan Africa, most climate-related migration occurs within national borders or between neighboring countries. Projections indicate that if global warming surpasses 2.5°C, the region could see 56–86 million internal migrants by 2050. Young women and girls are particularly vulnerable to climate impacts due to gender-based discrimination, limited property rights, and restricted educational and job opportunities.

This study focuses on Ghana, where climate change appears to drive women’s migration from northern rural areas to southern urban centers during the dry season in search of work. These women often face labor exploitation, unsafe housing, and gender-based violence. It is, however, not well understood under what circumstances climate change increases or decreases the migratory response among women, and what the consequences of these responses are.

Using geospatial satellite data and two rounds of national household survey data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey, we examine how environmental changes, including changes in land use land cover, land surface temperature and rainfall patterns, influence gendered migration patterns.

Our findings show that environmental degradation reduces agricultural productivity and exacerbates socioeconomic vulnerability in rural areas. The study highlights the need for targeted policies to improve environmental quality in migration-prone regions and address gender disparities in access to resources.