Measurement of Quality of Life in Spanish Regions
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Measurement of Quality of Life in Spanish Regions Manuel de Maya Matallana 1 & María López-Martínez 2 & Prudencio José Riquelme-Perea 1 Received: 6 June 2019 / Accepted: 29 September 2020/ # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract The present paper measures quality of life through a set of dimensions included in the following partial indicators of objective well-being: demography, economic endowment, academic training, employment, health, cultural goods, environment, housing habitability, security and family. Additionally, and independently, subjective well-being is studied to measure the degree of happiness of the population. As a result, a quality of life indicator is obtained that combines both objective and subjective indicators. The methodology used corresponds to that provided by Pena Trapero through the distance measure DP2, which has been widely used in many empirical studies on well-being and quality of life. Among the results obtained, it is worth noting that happiness diminishes as per capita income grows, and that prosperity, understood as social welfare, can be achieved without relying exclusively on material growth. Thus, the Spanish development model must be revised since the material objectives and economic growth do not guarantee the happiness of the population. Keywords Quality of life . Social welfare . DP2 indicator . Autonomous communities JEL Classification I3 . R13
Introduction This paper examines social welfare through a set of indicators including variables from different areas, given the multidimensional nature of well-being. More specifically, eleven dimensions have been synthesised in the following dimensions: demography, * Manuel de Maya Matallana [email protected]
1
Department of Applied Economics Faculty of Labor Sciences, University of Murcia, 30100, Campus of Espinardo Murcia, Spain
2
Department of Applied Economics Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Murcia, 30100, Campus of Espinardo Murcia, Spain
M. de Maya Matallana et al.
economic endowment, housing habitability, employment, academic training, health, cultural goods and activities, environment, security, family and subjective well-being. It is necessary to provide a new model of integral development that does not focus exclusively on the achievement of material goals, but rather reflects the socioeconomic reality within a spatial framework. The territorial scope of this study is restricted to the Spanish Autonomous Communities. In the last half century, substantial progress has been made in the differentiation between the terms economic growth, development and well-being. Yet it has been in the last three decades that the interest in the analysis of the quality of life has increased to a great extent (Cárcaba et al. 2017a, b). Despite the difficulties involved in any attempt to measure the quality of life of the population in a given geographical area, the techniques and statistics for quantification have been improved and expanded in recent years. There is currently consensus on the need to consider composite indic
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