OECD provides well-being indicators for citizens
- Beyond the GDP
- OECD tweets
- PISA for adults
- Developing economic statistics
- 50th anniversary of the OECD
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Vesa Puoskari. The author is a freelance journalist and a regular contributor to Tieto&trendit magazine.
© OECD
"The world and economies are changing, and our activities must reflect that change," says Martine Durand, OECD Chief Statistician and Director of Statistics since 2010.
In June, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, published a set of indicators, the so-called "Better Life Index" on its website. Using this interactive service, citizens can examine the current status of quality of life and well-being in their home country and make comparisons with other countries. "The aim is to focus on issues that are important for the citizens in various countries," says Martine Durand, OECD Chief Statistician and Director of Statistics.
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Efforts to measure and compare well-being and quality of life have been found challenging, and they have in recent times sparked a lot of debate and a number of experimental indicators among economists and statisticians, so far with meagre results.
"We have decided to move forward in terms of measurement and provide some concrete indicators," Martine Durand explains the background to these efforts.
The OECD has put together a large number of indicators of well-being in collaboration with the national statistical offices of the member states. Based on these, the organisation has set up an interactive service on their website where the citizens can build their own "Better Life Index". Durand emphasises that this work specifically aims at covering issues that are important to citizens.
"It sounds obvious when you say it, but it is not just money that counts for people. There are many other things that make a good life. Depending on what aspects you value the most, the indicators include dimensions such as participation in political life or being able to spend time with your friends and family."
"If you value social connections, you will find that countries such as Mexico or Turkey have a very high quality of life, despite the fact that their GDP is low. It very much depends on the weightings you put on the different dimensions of the indicators," Durand stresses.
In the background of this work is the initiative of French president Nicolas Sarkozy about Measuring Economic Performance and Social Progress. On this basis, a working group led by the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz published a report that created a solid political and academic background for the statistical development of well-being in 2009.
Beyond the GDP
Martine Durand explains that the Better Life Index has two objectives.
"One is to inform the public about the situation in their country. According to their own preferences, they can compare their country's performance in terms of education or health care, for instance, and perhaps let their policy-makers know."
"Policy-makers in turn can use the indicators to obtain information about best practices and apply these in their home countries," she adds.
Romina Boarini, responsible for the work on Measuring Progress at the OECD, notes that there naturally is a strong correlation between Gross Domestic Product measuring economic activity and well-being. However, there is a whole range of issues beyond the GDP that matters to people.
"Economic growth matters, especially when the country is very poor or developing. The GDP can explain part of the citizens' well-being, but you need to take into account many other aspects of what is going on in people's lives. You also need to invest in health and education and develop labour market policies," Boarini stresses.
Durand explains that an effort will be made to update the indicators on a regular basis. "For instance, we have not covered the whole issue of sustainability."
OECD tweets
The OECD has also been actively marketing the well-being indicators in the social media. The organisation has both a Facebook page and a Twitter account.
"Our standard customers have been governments and institutions. If you want to communicate with larger audiences, it is important to use new channels. Especially the younger generations use the social networks and it is important to be visible in them," Romina Boarini explains.
For instance, the OECD has received an enormous amount of feedback on the "Better Life Index" in the social media.
"We can't really respond to all questions, but we are a link between governments and the public. We can, for instance, let governments and statisticians know that these are things that matter to citizens, and that we realize we are not measuring them well enough. We need to put some more effort in these areas," Boarini points out.
PISA for adults
Concerning the new statistics projects of the OECD, Martine Durand brings up the PISA for adults, or the so-called PIAAC study, the data collection which will also be initiated in Finland in autumn 2011.
"It measures the competencies of the adult population, and also how these skills are used in the labour market."
"Another significant programme is the one measuring the performance of higher education, or Higher Education Learning Outcomes. This programme aims to find out about the added value of universities for young people," says Durand.
In addition, work to develop entrepreneurship statistics is also ongoing.
"Everybody agrees that entrepreneurship is a source of growth and employment. But official statistics and registers often start with firms of more than 10 people. For the small firms, there are very few statistics. In this area, we are collaborating with Eurostat."
Developing economic statistics
The OECD also takes part in eliminating the gaps and shortcomings in economic statistics that emerged during the economic crisis. The G20 launched a programme that proposes several recommendations aiming to improve economic statistics.
This will involve plenty of work, especially in developing financial statistics, which will be done under the International Monetary Fund IMF. The OECD's task is to develop quarterly accounts of different economic sectors.
"Frankly, it is true that we identified a number of statistical gaps during the crisis that have not been covered. You could see that household and consumer debt was going up considerably. A lot of this information already existed, it is just that people did not focus on it, or that some of the data were missing. We are now identifying and filling in these gaps," Durand describes the work in progress.
The OECD Statistic Directorate collaborates with Eurostat in many instances, as several OECD countries also are members of the European Union. Other important partners include the IMF, the World Bank and the United Nations.
50th anniversary of the OECD
In May, the OECD celebrated its 50th anniversary in Paris under the title Better Policies for Better Lives.
According to Martine Durand, the OECD will continue as an intergovernmental organization while it is opening up for new countries.
"The OECD has been a place where the best practices and policies have been shared during the last fifty years. This will continue in the future. We have also enlarged by taking in new member states."
Last year, the OECD accepted Israel, Chile, Slovenia and Estonia as new members. Russia is also expected to join in the future. "In addition, we have a programme of engagement with major emerging economies."
Martine Durand points out that the OECD will hold on to its values, such as democracy, market economy and free trade, also in the future. "The world and economies are changing, and our activities must reflect that change."
Päivitetty 19.8.2011