INCREASING PEOPLE’S WELL-BEING Mariano Rojas FCCT

The Experience of Being Well  People’s experience of being well matters Pleasures and pains Enjoyments and sufferings Achievements and failures A new Wealth-of-Nations conception  A new ‘object’ of progress Income is a mean but not an end

The Experience of Being Well  SWB approach We should not presume people’s well-being, but we should ask people about it Empowering people People are not as enthusiastic about current well-being indicators as those who construct and use them are

The Experience of Being Well  Public policy influences people’s experience of being well Enhancing current impact of public policies and development strategies Measuring SWB to know the impact Incorporating SWB to design better policies

Development Strategies  People-centered development  Placing people’s experience of being well at the center Income and GDP as an instruments  Having a society where people are satisfied with their life Reconsidering Human capital Social capital Physical capital Leisure as being idle

Development Strategies  From ‘Human Capital’ to ‘ Skills for Living a Satisfactory Life ’ Intrinsic value of education and health Reconsidering educational and health programs  From ‘Social Capital’ to ‘ Human Relations ’ Intrinsic value of social networks Others as ends rather than as means

Development Strategies  From ‘Physical Capital’ to ‘ Livability of People’s Surrounding Conditions ’ An environment that contributes to experiencing well- being The value of parks, green areas, social and public spaces, so on  Leisure and its gratifying using It is an important well-being source

Enhancing Social Programs  Getting people out of poverty is great... placing them in a life-satisfying situation is even better  Designing social programs Aiming for people’s satisfaction with life Incorporating hidden well-being costs and benefits

Enhancing Social Programs

 Domains of life  People are much more than consumers “There is more in life than the standard of living; and for most people there are more important things.”

Social Programs

Social Programs: Hidden Costs

Enhancing Social Programs

 Superior pattern out of poverty Well-being enhancing Getting people out of poverty and placing them in a life satisfying situation Going beyond income Aim, design and evaluation Incorporating all domains of life

Allocation of Resources  Valuation  Non-market valuation Public goods Non-market goods  Complementing market valuation Due to market failures Market concentration Unfair income distribution