On April 28, 2016, social innovators from 6 continents gathered in Reykjavik to join Harvard Business School Professor Michael E. Porter to identify solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems.
The conference was a watershed discussion of how countries including Brazil, Costa Rica, Iceland, Nepal, New Zealand and Rwanda and cities and regions such as Medellin, Colombia and the Basque Region of Spain have achieved standout social progress results.
Insight from the Social Progress Index, a powerful new benchmarking tool to connect decision-makers with fresh perspectives on social performance, anchored these conversations.
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SOCIAL PROGRESS – WHAT WORKS?
Professor Michael E. Porter
HARPA CONFERENCE CENTER – REYKJAVÍK, ICELAND
APRIL 28, 2016
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WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
AND SOCIAL PROGRESS?
Economic
Development
GDP per capita
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HOW DO WE MEASURE DEVELOPMENT?
Social
Progress
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Economic
Development
GDP per capita
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THE PARADIGM HAS BEEN THAT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
MEASURED BY GDP WILL LEAD TO SOCIAL PROGRESS.
HOW DO WE MEASURE DEVELOPMENT?
Social
Progress
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BUT SOMETIMES THE LINK BETWEEN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND
SOCIAL PROGRESS IS MISSING.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DOES NOT ALWAYS LEAD TO SOCIAL
PROGRESS…
Economic
Development
GDP per capita
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HOW DO WE MEASURE DEVELOPMENT?
Social
Progress
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…AND IT IS CLEAR THAT SOMETIMES SOCIAL PROGRESS
INFLUENCES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
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Economic
Development
GDP per capita
HOW DO WE MEASURE DEVELOPMENT?
Social
Progress
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TO UNDERSTAND INCLUSIVE GROWTH WE NEED TO MEASURE
SOCIAL PROGRESS DIRECTLY
Social
Progress
?
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HOW DO WE MEASURE DEVELOPMENT?
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SOCIAL PROGRESS INDEX: DESIGN PRINCIPLES
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Outcomes – not inputs
Actionability
Relevant to all countries
Exclusively social and
environmental indicators
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DEFINITION OF SOCIAL PROGRESS
Social progress is the capacity of a society to meet
the basic human needs of its citizens, establish the
building blocks that allow citizens and communities
to enhance and sustain the quality of their lives, and
create the conditions for all individuals to reach
their full potential.
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SOCIAL PROGRESS INDEX FRAMEWORK INDICATORS 2015
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Basic Human Needs Opportunity
Nutrition and Basic Medical Care
Undernourishment
Depth of food deficit
Maternal mortality rate
Child mortality rate
Deaths from infectious diseases
Water and Sanitation
Access to piped water
Rural access to improved water source
Access to improved sanitation facilities
Shelter
Availability of affordable housing
Access to electricity
Quality of electricity supply
Indoor air pollution attributable deaths
Personal Safety
Homicide rate
Level of violent crime
Perceived criminality
Political terror
Traffic deaths
Access to Basic Knowledge
Adult literacy rate
Primary school enrollment
Lower secondary school enrollment
Upper secondary school enrollment
Gender parity in secondary enrollment
Access to Information and
Communications
Mobile telephone subscriptions
Internet users
Press Freedom Index
Health and Wellness
Life expectancy
Premature deaths from non-
communicable diseases
Obesity rate
Outdoor air pollution attributable deaths
Suicide rate
Ecosystem Sustainability
Greenhouse gas emissions
Water withdrawals as a percent of
resources
Biodiversity and habitat
Personal Rights
Political rights
Freedom of speech
Freedom of assembly/association
Freedom of movement
Private property rights
Personal Freedom and Choice
Freedom over life choices
Freedom of religion
Early marriage
Satisfied demand for contraception
Corruption
Tolerance and Inclusion
Tolerance for immigrants
Tolerance for homosexuals
Discrimination and violence against
minorities
Religious tolerance
Community safety net
Access to Advanced Education
Years of tertiary schooling
Women’s average years in school
Inequality in the attainment of education
Globally ranked universities
Social Progress Index
Foundations of Wellbeing
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SPI
rank
SPI
score
Country
SPI
rank
SPI
score
Country
SPI
rank
SPI
score
Country
SPI
rank
SPI
score
Country
1 88.36 Norway 18 81.91 Portugal 35 74 Lithuania 52 68.19 Albania
2 88.06 Sweden 19 81.62 Slovenia 36 73.66 Mauritius 53 67.79 Macedonia
3 87.97 Switzerland 20 81.17 Spain 37 73.3 Croatia 54 67.5 Mexico
4 87.62 Iceland 21 80.82 France 38 73.08 Argentina 55 67.23 Peru
5 87.08 New Zealand 22 80.59 Czech Republic 39 72.79
United Arab
Emirates
56 67.1 Paraguay
6 86.89 Canada 23 80.49 Estonia 40 72.6 Israel 57 66.34 Thailand
7 86.75 Finland 24 79.21 Uruguay 41 71.79 Panama 58 66.24 Turkey
8 86.63 Denmark 25 78.45 Slovakia 42 70.89 Brazil 59 66.15
Bosnia and
Herzegovina
9 86.5 Netherlands 26 78.29 Chile 43 70.19 Bulgaria 60 65.89 Georgia
10 86.42 Australia 27 77.98 Poland 44 69.83 Jamaica 61 65.7 Armenia
11 84.68
United
Kingdom
28 77.88 Costa Rica 45 69.79 Serbia 62 65.69 Ukraine
12 84.66 Ireland 29 77.7
Korea, Republic
of
46 69.55 Malaysia 63 65.64 South Africa
13 84.45 Austria 30 77.45 Cyprus 47 69.19 Kuwait 64 65.46 Philippines
14 84.04 Germany 31 77.38 Italy 48 69.01 Montenegro 65 65.22 Botswana
15 83.15 Japan 32 74.8 Hungary 49 68.85 Colombia 66 64.98 Belarus
16 82.85 United States 33 74.12 Latvia 50 68.37 Romania 67 64.92 Tunisia
17 82.83 Belgium 34 74.03 Greece 51 68.25 Ecuador 68 64.31 El Salvador
Social Progress categorization:
• SPI rank 01 – 10: very high
• SPI rank 11 – 31: high
• SPI rank 32 – 56: upper middle
• SPI rank 57 –98: lower middle
• SPI rank 99 – 125: low
• SPI rank 126 – 133: very low
2015 SOCIAL PROGRESS INDEX RESULTS
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SOCIAL PROGRESS DOES INCREASE WITH GDP PER CAPITA BUT
GDP IS FAR FROM THE WHOLE STORY
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SOCIAL PROGRESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Economic development alone is not sufficient to explain social
progress outcomes
• There is a non-linear relationship between Social Progress Index
scores and GDP per capita
• Social Progress Index scores display significant deviation from the
GDP per capita regression line
• GDP per capita is an incomplete measure of a country's overall
performance
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BENCHMARKING DRIVES IMPROVEMENT
• Social Progress Index allows us to see how a country is performing in
absolute terms and relative to its economic peers. Every country has
areas for improvement.
• Social Progress Index allows us to look at a country’s performance
holistically, looking at how performance varies across different aspects of
social progress. It breaks down the silos between social issues and
helps prioritization.
• Benchmarking allows countries to identify areas of relative weakness to
help set strategic priorities for improvement.
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DEFINING PEER COUNTRIES
• We define a country’s economic peers as the 15 countries closest in
GDP PPP per capita.
• Once the peer group is defined, a country’s performance is compared to
the median performance of countries within the peer cohort.
• If a country’s indicator score is greater than (or less than) the average
absolute deviation from the median of the comparator group, it is
considered a strength (or weakness). Scores within one average
absolute deviation are considered neither strengths nor weaknesses
(neutral) within the cohort.
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Strengths and weaknesses are relative to 15 countries of similar GDP: Relative Strength n/a – no data available
Neutral
Relative Weakness
Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank
BASIC HUMAN NEEDS 91.23 21 W FOUNDATIONS OF WELLBEING 75.15 35 W OPPORTUNITY 82.18 8 N
Nutrition and Basic Medical Care 98.52 39 N Access to Basic Knowledge 95.33 45 W Personal Rights 82.16 24 W
Undernourishment (% of pop.) 5.0 1 N Adult literacy rate (% of pop. aged 15+) 99.0 1 N Political rights (1=full rights; 7=no rights) 1 1 N
Depth of food deficit (cal./undernourished person) 8 1 N Primary school enrollment (% of children) 91.8 73 W Freedom of speech (0=low; 2=high) 2 1 S
Maternal mortality rate (deaths/100,000 live births) 28 55 W Lower secondary school enrollment (% of children) 98.0 57 W Freedom of assembly/association (0=low; 2=high) 1 48 W
Child mortality rate (deaths/1,000 live births) 6.9 38 W Upper secondary school enrollment (% of children) 89.5 49 W Freedom of movement (0=low; 4=high) 3 67 W
Deaths from infectious diseases (deaths/100,000) 31.3 37 N Gender parity in secondary enrollment (girls/boys) 1.0 1 N Private property rights (0=none; 100=full) 80 17 W
Water and Sanitation 98.68 28 W Access to Information and Communications 85.00 23 W Personal Freedom and Choice 82.64 15 N
Access to piped water (% of pop.) 98.6 25 W Mobile telephone subscriptions (subscriptions/100 people) 95.5 87 W Freedom over life choices (% satisfied) 86.6 27 W
Rural access to improved water source (% of pop.) 98.0 41 W Internet users (% of pop.) 84.2 13 N Freedom of religion (1=low; 4=high) 3 55 W
Access to improved sanitation facilities (% of pop.) 100.0 27 N Press Freedom Index (0=most free; 100=least free) 23.5 36 W Early marriage (% of women aged 15-19) 0.03 32 W
Satisfied demand for contraception (% of women) 84.7 14 N
Corruption (0=high; 100=low) 74 15 N
Shelter 90.05 6 N Health and Wellness 68.66 68 W Tolerance and Inclusion 74.46 15 N
Availability of affordable housing (% satisfied) 69.0 7 S Life expectancy (years) 78.7 30 W Tolerance for immigrants (0=low; 100=high) 81.5 11 N
Access to electricity (% of pop.) 100.0 1 N Premature deaths from non-comm. diseases (prob. of dying) 14.3 35 W Tolerance for homosexuals (0=low; 100=high) 71.3 15 N
Quality of electricity supply (1=low; 7=high) 6.3 19 W Obesity rate (% of pop.) 31.8 126 W
Discrim. and viol. against minorities (0=low;
10=high) 4.5 31 N
Household air pollution attr. deaths (deaths/100,000) 0 1 N Outdoor air pollution attributable deaths (deaths/100,000) 33.6 78 W Religious tolerance (1=low; 4=high) 3 36 N
Suicide rate (deaths/100,000) 10.7 81 W Community safety net (0=low; 100=high) 90.1 27 W
Personal Safety 77.66 30 W Ecosystem Sustainability 51.63 74 W Access to Advanced Education 89.47 1 S
Homicide rate (1= <2/100,000; 5= >20/100,000) 2 41 W Greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 equivalents per GDP) 421.7 4 N Years of tertiary schooling 1.8 1 S
Level of violent crime (1=low; 5=high) 1 1 N Water withdrawals as a percentage of resources 2.9 85 W Women's average years in school 13.9 4 N
Perceived criminality (1=low; 5=high) 2 2 N Biodiv. and habitat (0=no protection; 100=high protection) 63.4 68 W Inequality in the attainment of edu. (0=low; 1=high) 0.07 38 W
Political terror (1=low; 5=high) 3 80 W Number of globally ranked universities 181 1 S
Traffic deaths (deaths/100,000) 11.4 38 W
UNITED STATES
Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Netherlands, Ireland, Austria,
United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Germany, Denmark,
Australia, Canada, Belgium, Iceland, Finland, and Norway
GDP per capita rank: 6
Social Progress Index rank: 16/133
Social Progress Index score: 82.85
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Basic Human Needs Foundations of Wellbeing Opportunity
Nutrition
and Basic
Medical
Care
Water and
Sanitation
Shelter Personal
Safety
Access to
Basic
Knowledge
Access to
Info and
Communic
ations
Health and
Wellness
Ecosystem
Sustainability
Personal
Rights
Personal
Freedom and
Choice
Tolerance
and
Inclusion
Access to
Advanced
Education
SOCIAL PROGRESS INDEX 2015: UNITED STATES VS. PEER COUNTRIES
Social Progress Index Rank: 16 GDP per Capita Rank: 6
Weakness
Strength
Expected Range
United States
Other Cohort Countries
Cohort Countries: Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Netherlands, Ireland,
Austria, United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Australia,
Canada, Belgium, Iceland, Finland, and Norway
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SOCIAL PROGRESS INDEX 2015: UNITED STATES INDICATOR STRENGTHS
Cohort Countries: Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Netherlands, Ireland,
Austria, United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Australia,
Canada, Belgium, Iceland, Finland, and Norway
Availability of affordable housing Years of tertiary schooling Number of globally ranked universities
Basic Human Needs Opportunity
Shelter Access to Advanced EducationPersonal Rights
Freedom of speech
Weakness
Strength
Expected Range
United States
Other Cohort Countries
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SOCIAL PROGRESS INDEX 2015: GREATEST UNITED STATES WEAKNESSES
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Cohort Countries: Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Netherlands, Ireland,
Austria, United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Australia,
Canada, Belgium, Iceland, Finland, and Norway
Basic Human Needs OpportunityFoundations of Wellbeing
Tolerance
and Inclusion
Personal
Freedom
and Choice
Personal
Rights
Personal Safety
Health and Wellness Ecosystem SustainabilityAccess to Basic
Knowledge
Access to
Advanced
Education
Weakness
Strength
Expected Range
United States
Other Cohort Countries
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WHAT WORKS: BENCHMARKING TO GUIDE IMPROVEMENT
• Social Progress Index identifies countries that are doing well on particular
aspects of social progress. This allows identifying best practices and
potential solutions.
• The SPI reveals economic peers that have demonstrated excellence in
each area. Learning from frontier social progress performers, adapted for
local context, informs strategies for improvement.
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STRENGTH IN BASIC HUMAN NEEDS
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Basic Human Needs Nutrition and Basic
Medical Care
Water and
Sanitation
Shelter Personal Safety
Low Income Nepal
The Gambia
Rwanda
The Gambia
Nepal
Benin
Comoros
The
Gambia
Rwanda
Burundi
Nepal
Rwanda
Comoros
Nepal
Lower
Middle
Income
Moldova
Kyrgyzstan
Uzbekistan
Tajikistan
Senegal
Armenia
Djibouti
Kyrgyzstan
Moldova
Uzbekistan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Djibouti
Moldova
Armenia
Honduras
Egypt
Senegal
Uzbekistan
Moldova
Morocco
Vietnam
Senegal
Tajikistan
Bhutan
Djibouti
Vietnam
Georgia
Morocco
Laos
Moldova
Uzbekistan
Upper
Middle
Income
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mauritius
Turkmenistan
Thailand
Mauritius
Costa Rica
Malaysia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mongolia
High Income Japan Czech Republic
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STRENGTH IN FOUNDATIONS OF WELLBEING
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Foundations of
Wellbeing
Access to Basic
Knowledge
Access to Information
and Communications
Health and
Wellness
Ecosystem
Sustainability
Low Income Uganda
Rwanda
Kenya
Comoros
Rwanda
Nepal
Malawi
Madagascar
Zimbabwe
Mali
Benin
The Gambia
Ethiopia Uganda
Burkina Faso
Cambodia
Rwanda
Lower
Middle
Income
Honduras
Nicaragua
Senegal
Tajikistan
Kyrgyzstan
Moldova
Uzbekistan
Cape Verde
Moldova
Ghana
Vietnam Senegal
Laos
Bhutan
Upper
Middle
Income
Ecuador
Costa Rica
Colombia
Costa Rica Peru
Colombia
Ecuador
Costa Rica
Serbia
High Income Sweden
Iceland
Norway
Latvia
Uruguay
Estonia
New Zealand
Switzerland
Norway
Slovenia
Latvia
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STRENGTH IN OPPORTUNITY
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Opportunity Personal Rights Personal Freedom
and Choice
Tolerance and
Inclusion
Access to Advanced
Education
Low Income Comoros
Malawi
Liberia
Mali
Guinea-Bissau
Burkina Faso
Rwanda
Cambodia
Kenya
Mozambique
Sierra Leone
Burkina Faso
Zimbabwe
Uganda
Madagascar
Tanzania
Dem. Rep. of the Congo
Mozambique
Kenya
Rwanda
Malawi
Lower Middle
Income
Lesotho
Philippines
Ghana
Cape Verde
Ghana
Timor-Leste
Papua
New Guinea
Lesotho
Lesotho
Philippines
Bhutan
Uzbekistan
Nicaragua
Lesotho
Ukraine
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Uzbekistan
Moldova
Philippines
Georgia
Lesotho
Papua New Guinea
Armenia
Upper Middle
Income
Costa Rica
Jamaica
Mongolia
Belize
Costa Rica
Jamaica
Costa Rica
Botswana
Jamaica
Costa Rica
Brazil
Paraguay
Bulgaria
High Income Uruguay
New Zealand
Chile
Portugal
Uruguay
Estonia
New Zealand
Chile
Uruguay
Chile
New Zealand
Poland
Uruguay
Portugal
New Zealand
Chile
Malta
Iceland
Spain
Russia
United States
Canada
Israel
United Kingdom
Australia
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COMPARING MUNICIPALITIES: ORIXIMINÁ, AMAZON REGION, BRAZIL
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SOCIAL PROGRESS – WHAT WORKS?
• The goal of this conference is to begin the process of moving from
measurement to action to impact.
• SPI highlights peers that offer models, and lessons, for improvement that
can help others.
• The 8 case studies on what works, presented today by local experts, will
be documented and shared internationally.
• This meeting is just a beginning. We are building a global community of
experts to share knowledge on advancing social progress.
• Join us!
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Editor's Notes
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SPI approach is distinct in its four design principles (non-economic measures, outcomes only, relevance to all countries; action orientation).
SPI measures lived experience, not “happiness” from a subjective perspective and not distribution of income. Rather, we can look at the relationship between the Social Progress Index and life satisfactions and inequality.
SPI is holistic. It is not siloed or balkanized. The field has been balkanized and this gets in the way of strategic thinking and prioritization.
The definition of social progress is the basis of the three dimensions of social progress: Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity.
There are some gray areas. For example, employment is an economic indicator, but there are social dimensions of it, such as the satisfaction and dignity that comes with work.
The framework was constructed as part of an iterative process in 2011-2012 culminating in a release of a beta version of the index in 2013. We received considerable feedback on improving the indicators in the model, but none on the framework itself.
This is the most rigorous index proposed thus far, quite unique
Each component of the framework comprises between three and five specific outcome indicators. The included indicators are selected to fully capture the area plus they are measured appropriately, with a consistent methodology, by the same organization across all (or essentially all) of the countries in our sample.
Finding indicators:
Partly dependent on what is well measured – can capture some of the components better
Part of our goal is prompting improved measurement in key areas. For example, we are working with researchers at the University of Connecticut, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International to develop better measures of human rights for our Personal Rights component.
Level of analysis – national vs. other geographic units. We construct at national level. Clear variation by regions/cities/municipalities.
Conceptually, 100 represents the best possible value and 0 represents the worst possible value. That is, a score of 100 on the Social Progress Index represents a 100 score on each of the indicators and a score of 0 represents a score of 0 on every indicator.
The world as a whole (country scores weighted by population) scores 61/100.
Note wide variation in performance across different components.
Conceptually, 100 represents the best possible value and 0 represents the worst possible value. That is, a score of 100 on the Social Progress Index represents a 100 score on each of the indicators and a score of 0 represents a score of 0 on every indicator.
We have been able to measure 133 countries with complete SPI data, covering 95% of the world’s population.
Relationship with economic development
While Social Progress does increase with GDP, GDP in and of itself is an incomplete explanation of a country’s social progress performance.
At lower income levels, small differences in GDP are associated with large improvements in social progress. As countries reach high levels of income, however, that rate of change slows. Our findings suggest that the easy gains in social progress arising from economic development become exhausted, while economic growth brings new social and environmental challenges. (headwinds)
SPI provides a powerful tool to understand a country’s social progress performance relative to GDP per capita.
SPI is a strategy tool. With traditional balkanization of social issues, we don’t get strategic thinking. Ministries focused on isolated agendas