BRAINPOoL (Bringing alternative indicators into policy) is an EU-funded project aimed at identifying and overcoming the barriers to ‘Beyond GDP’ indicators being used in policy.
2. The Project
BRAINPOoL (Bringing alternative indicators into policy) is an
EU-funded project aimed at identifying and overcoming the
barriers to ‘Beyond GDP’ indicators being used in policy.
During the project we’ve carried out research and interviews,
conducting workshops and knowledge-brokerage seminars
and carrying out various action research case studies to
explore ways to improve uptake of Beyond GDP indicators.
3. What are indicators for (in
general)?
• Instrumental use
– Identifying and understanding problems
– Analysing policy options
– Evaluation
• Conceptual use
• Political use
– Legitimisation
– Tactical
– Symbolic
4. Outline
• Defining & understanding Beyond GDP
• Categorising Beyond GDP initiatives
• Impact to date of Beyond GDP
5. Our definition of Beyond GDP
indicators…
“those indicators and indicator sets that have
been proposed as necessary and central to
the measurement of societal progress in a
broad sense, other than those indicators,
such as GDP or the unemployment rate, that
are already playing this role.”
BRAINPOoL WP1 report
6. It is a response to a real and to
a measurement problem…
• There is a bias in policy making towards striving for GDP growth that
may make resolving critical political problems more difficult, e.g.
– How do we improve lives in an era of low growth and squeezed finance?
– How do we create good jobs for people?
– How do we reduce inequality?
– How do we avoid political extremism?
– How do we deal with climate change and other threats to sustainability?
• This bias is exacerbated by the prominence of the metric itself
– The ability to maximise GDP growth defines ‘economic competence’
– Perceptions of ‘economic competence’ drive elections
– Therefore particularly strong incentives to maximise GDP
7. …resulting in two
interdependent challenges
• Adoption of a new headline measure of progress (or a small set of
such measures)
– This can balance GDP and thus indicate a more balanced political programme
• Moves towards a more balanced political programme
– The effective management of trade offs leading to better quality growth (equitable,
sustainable, high well-being)
Prima facie, BRAINPOoL is about the first of these, but they are
interdependent: headline measures drive policy but real policy
implications make indicators salient.
8. The real and measurement problem just
defined focuses the discussion – as
illustrated in the following charts
9. The bias to GDP maximisation as
means to increasing well-being…
Policy
Intervention
Growth
Well-being
10. …will not be corrected by parallel
objectives, which already exist…
Economic
Policy
Growth
Well-being as
understood by
economics
depts
Other Policy
Interventions
Social/
environmental
objectives
Well-being as
understood by
other policy
depts
11. …as do the relevant indicators…
Economic
Policy
GDP
Other Policy
Interventions
Social/
environmental
indicators
12. …but by a more integrated
policy process
Policy
Intervention
GDP
‘Beyond
GDP’
indicators
Well-being –
now and future
(sustainability)
13. …allowing policy makers to
target good quality growth…
“Whatever policy objectives you have, you should set them into
an integrated policy framework which has as an overarching goal
the increase in people’s well-being” , OECD Researcher
Policy
Intervention
↑ GDP
↑
‘Beyond
GDP’
indicators
↑
Well-being –
now and future
14. …not bad quality growth
Policy
Intervention
↑ GDP
↓
‘Beyond
GDP’
indicators
↓
Well-being –
now and future
15. …and in some instances to
sacrifice growth.
Policy
Intervention
↓ GDP
↑
‘Beyond
GDP’
indicators
↑
Well-being –
now and future
16. Outline
• Defining & understanding Beyond GDP
• Categorising Beyond GDP initiatives
• Impact to date of Beyond GDP
17. Categorising Beyond GDP
initiatives
Indicator factors
Domains
Dashboard
Economic
Social
Environ
mental
Aggregati
on
Single
indicator
Compound
indicator
Aggregated
Composite
Objective
Subjective
Index
20. Main indicator types
• Adjusted GDP indicators
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Objective
Composite
International
All users (but first the
public)
Adjustment
Beyond GDP
Debate
Sometimes signalling
Economic
Social
Environ
mental
21. Main indicator types
• Quality of life
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Objective
Dashboard or index
National
Public and policy-makers
Complement
Usually Beyond GDP
Sometimes policy,
sometimes debate
Economic
Social
22. Main indicator types
• Subjective approaches
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Subjective
Subjective
Single number
WB
International
All
Replace/complement
Not always Beyond GDP
Policy and debate
Economic
Social
Environ
mental
23. Main indicator types
• Sustainable development
/ Progress / National WellBeing
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Subjective and objective
Dashboard
National
Policy-makers (and public)
Complement (and include)
Not always Beyond GDP
Policy
Economic
Social
Environ
mental
24. Main indicator types
• Local initiatives
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Subjective and objective
Mix of domains
Local
Policy-makers and public
Complement
Not always Beyond GDP
Policy & debate
Democratic engagement
Economic
Social
Environ
mental
25. Outline
• Defining & understanding Beyond GDP
• Categorising Beyond GDP initiatives
• Impact to date of Beyond GDP
26. The initiatives studied (of ~80)
Domestic Material
Consumption
Happy Life Years
OECD Handbook of
Subjective Well-Being
UN Commission for
Sustainable Development
27. New indicators have been used
to shift debate by outsiders …
• Ecological Footprint, a greater understanding of our
global impact
• QUARS in Italy, which was one of the forerunners of
the official BES
• HPI in the UK, opened space for ONS
initiative
• Subjective well-being, highlighting that there are
limits to the benefits of growth
28. …and are getting some traction
in some policy circles…
• Many are being used for assessment purposes
– GPI in Maryland by State govt, QUARS in Italy by town and regional govts
– Quality of life indicators for cities in New Zealand by local authorities
– Ecological footprint (e.g. Wales, Ecuador, UAE)
• There have been some associated policy changes
– Focus on farmland birds in UK, after Sustainable Development Indicator set
– Delivery of public health projects in USA, after Gallup-Healthways WellBeing Index
– Delivery of projects working with homeless in Belgium, after SPIRAL
– Alcohol policy in UK based on well-being data
• There have even been some clear measurable impacts
– Reduction in infant mortality rates, in Jacksonville, Florida
– Reduced recidivism, again resulting from Jacksonville Community
Indicators
29. ... but mainly at local or regional
level – not in economics depts
• Local successes are easier because
– It is easier to bring stakeholders together
– Citizens feel more connected with their locality
– It is easier to bring different parts of local government together
– The focus is spatial planning and local services, not the economy
• Hence some of our examples
– Jacksonville Community Indicators in Florida, SPIRAL, Toronto’s
Vital Signs
• National examples are not ‘Beyond GDP’ impacts
– Alcohol, public health, service delivery, farmland birds
So that’s the challenge for today!
30. Saamah Abdallah, nef (the new economics foundation)
saamah.abdallah@neweconomics.org
Tomas Hak, Charles University Environment Centre (WP1)
tomas.hak@czp.cuni.cz
Charles Seaford, nef (the new economics foundation) (WP3)
charles.seaford@neweconomics.org
,
James Jordan