1. Regional disparities, regional policy and the well-being agenda
Fiona Wishlade
Seminar at Kommunal- og moderniseringsdepartementet 22 November 2016

2. Outline ‘Conventional’ regional disparities across Europe
Measuring disparities for regional policy
Evolving thinking on alternative measures
Recent initiatives and examples
Some questions and challenges
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3. A snapshot
GDP(PPS) per head
Population density
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4. ...of ‘conventional’ disparities
Employment rate 15-64
Unemployment rate
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5. Indicators in regional policy
Rely heavily on ‘conventional’ indicators
EU Cohesion policy maps based on GDP(PPS) per head
Aid area coverage driven by GDP and population density
Selection of areas driven by national considerations – primarily labour market – within ceilings
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6. Selection of assisted areas (with population ceilings)
Unemployment rate
Skills levels
Claimant count rate
Share of manufacturing employment
Unemployment
Gross wage per employee
Employment forecast
Infrastructure indicator
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7. Alternative measures? GDP and GDP growth institutionalised since 1930s
Became emblematic of national welfare – proxy for progress
Increasingly subject to criticism – dating back to late 1960s
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8. A first wave – critiques…
King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, Bhutan, 1972
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9. Led on to… Emergence of social indicators movement
Development of new social surveys in many countries
But impact on politics and policy limited – by 1970s recession dampened progress
(Bache & Reardon, 2016)
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10. A second wave of interest…
Since 1990s
Roots in environmental challenges, sustainability
Increased understanding of drivers of well-being
Interest in measuring subjective dimensions
Extension of analysis beyond “first world” countries
High level political support
Nothing is more destructive than the gap between people's perceptions of their own day-to-day economic well-being and what politicians and statisticians are telling them about the economy
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11. Numerous outputs…
High profile reports, conferences (Sen, Stiglitz, Fitoussi, 2009; Beyond GDP, 2007…)
Composite international country indices – 178 by 2008 (Bandera, 2008) and ‘dashboards’ (OECD)
National initiatives (UK, FR, CH, Aus, Can…)
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12. International regional indices
OECD regional well-being
EU social progress index
11 topics – income, jobs, housing, health, access to services, environment, education, safety, civic engagement & governance, community, life satisfaction
Based on ‘objective’ indicators
395 OECD regions
No composite index
3 dimensions – basic human needs (nutrition, medical care, safety…); foundations of well-being (access to knowledge, ecosystem sustainability, health…); opportunity (personal rights, access to higher education), compiled from 50 indicators
Mainly Eurostat data; some subjective indicators
EU28 only - NUTS 2 regions
Composite index
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13. International regional comparisons?
Scotland
Oslo and Akershus
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14. Index of multiple deprivation (England)
Current version 2015 ( data); first version 2000
7 domains (37 indicators): income, employment, education skills & training, health & disability, crime, housing & services, living environment
Weighted index
Shows concentration of deprivation and relative position
32,844 neighbourhoods
Summarised to local authority districts, local authorities, clinical commissioning areas and Local Enterprise Partnerships (39)
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15. Different geographies, different outcomes
Local authority districts
Local enterprise partnerships
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16. Measuring National Well-Being Programme (UK)
ONS consultation ‘what matters’ for well-being:
10 domains; 41 indicators; but limited spatial component
New subjective ‘personal well-being’ survey piloted since 2011:
Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?
Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?
Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?
Overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?
Reported at local authority level
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17. ‘Qualité de vie dans les territoires’
Published 2014
Follow-up to Stiglitz Commission report
13 dimensions (27 indicators)
Assessed across 2677 ‘territoires de vie’ (constructed for the study)
Typology of eight territories
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18. Towards a well-being framework?
Receiving increasing attention, especially at city and region level
But is “wellbeing measurement… developing more than wellbeing policy”? (Allin & Hand, 2017)
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19. Issues, questions and challenges
How do you agree on the nature of ‘well-being’ and how to measure it?
What is the right spatial scale?
What is the role of regional policy in relation to well-being?
How do you sustain a well-being agenda?
How do you translate the measurement of well-being into a policy agenda?
How do you coordinate policy for a well-being agenda?
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20. Useful links
EPRC EoRPA partner homepage:
UN survey of composite indices:
European Commission: Beyond GDP – measuring progress, true wealth and well-being:
OECD regional well-being:
EU social progress index:
UK statistics office work on well-being:
UK statistics office work on deprivation indices:
French statistics office work on well-being:
Canadian index of well-being:
Wikiprogress on well-being of nations:
Carnegie Trust / OECD guidance on well-being frameworks:
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