Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/65703 
Year of Publication: 
2007
Series/Report no.: 
Open Discussion Papers in Economics No. 53
Publisher: 
The Open University, Economics Department, Milton Keynes
Abstract: 
The paper is motivated by sustained interest in the capabilities approach to welfare economics combined with the purported paucity of economic statistics that measure capabilities at the individual level. Specifically, it takes a focal account of normatively desirable capabilities constitutive of a good life and operationalizes that account by means of a new survey instrument used to elicit information about capabilities at the individual level. The paper explores the extent to which these capabilities are co-variates of a life satisfaction measure of utility (happiness) and finds that many are. Aspects of robustness are explored using standard socio-demographic variables as well as a relatively novel control for personality; in addition, a range of different models are explored and sub-population differences are examined.
Subjects: 
capabilities
indicators
measurement
human development
welfare
happiness
life satisfaction
controls
personality
JEL: 
D60
C80
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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