Is GDP a good proxy for social welfare? Building on economic theory, this book confirms that it is not, but also that most alternatives to it share its basic flaw, i.e., a focus on specific aspects of people's lives without sufficiently taking account of people's values and goals. A better approach is possible.

The aim of this article is to inquire about potential relationship between change of crime rates and change of gross domestic product growth rate, based on historical statistics of Japan. This national-level study used a dataset covering 88 years and 13 attributes. The data were processed with the self-organizing map, separation power checked by our ScatterCounter method, assisted by other clustering methods and statistical methods for obtaining comparable results. The article is an exploratory application of the SOM in research of (...) criminal phenomena through processing of multivariate data. The research confirmed previous findings that SOM was able to cluster efficiently the present data and characterize these different clusters. Other machine learning methods were applied to ensure clusters computed with SOM. The correlations obtained between GDP and other attributes were mostly weak, with a few of them interesting. (shrink)

What is the significance of GDP per capita to a society? What does it represent conceptually? These questions have been addressed in past decades, engendering extensive explorations of the limitations of the indicator, yet answers have proved problematic or partial. The paper presents the main conclusions so far drawn and builds upon them to present a new reading of the significance of GDP per capita. At the heart of this reading is the view that, while GDP per capita is not (...) indicative of the welfare of individuals, it is indicative of an irreducible ‘group well-being.’ This view, however, requires one to relinquish the belief that only individuals can be ‘well.’ It turns out that the allegedly orthodox view, which sees GDP as a human-centered indicator, requires an unorthodox philosophical standpoint, one that accepts an irreducible group well-being. The paper presents this alternative interpretation and addresses its upsides and limitations. (shrink)

The purpose of the study is to determine the relationship between the economic well-being of countries and their openness to external markets. The scientific novelty consists in the comparison of two groups of countries with different characteristics and identifying specific patterns of the impact of selected macroeconomic factors on GDP. The article presents an econometric analysis and contains regression equations for each state. Interpretation of the coefficients of the derived models makes it possible to estimate changes in GDP with the (...) change of indicators. As a result, it was revealed that export is the most stable and strongly influencing the economy of all countries macroeconomic factor, and the strength of influence depends on the level of development of the country. The stability of GDP in developing countries is largely achieved through the regulation of internal factors, and in developed countries through exports regulation. (shrink)

The aim is to investigate the Information Communication Technology (ICT) on GDP growth in Western Balkan countries from 2000 - 2019. Different econometric techniques were used such as pooled OLS, fixed effects, random effects, and the Hausman Taylor model with instrumental variables (IV). The findings indicate that fixed telephone subscriptions and individuals using the internet have a positive effect on GDP growth, while the fixed broadband subscriptions and mobile cellular subscriptions have a negative effect on GDP growth. The results also (...) show general government final consumption has a negative effect on GDP growth, whereas foreign direct investment has a positive effect on GDP growth, but the coefficient is statistically insignificant. The study will serve for policy makers to invest more in ICT since this will contribute to the economic growth and welfare benefits. There is no study that has been analyzed about ICT in Western Balkan countries, thus findings will be valuable to the government. (shrink)

How do we measure economic growth? In the eighteenth century, well before the birth of Gross Domestic Product commonly used today, looking at the sign of the balance of trade was a way to take the pulse of a nation's economy. Adam Smith rejects this measure and instead suggests that we should look at population growth. Nations that are able to produce enough to support the life of a growing population have growing economies, nations with constant population have stagnant economies, (...) and nations that face a declining population have contracting economies. Thus, population for Adam Smith is a proxy for our Gross Domestic Product, indicating the changes in production in a country over time. (shrink)

Given that values influence the scientific process, including when doing economics, we should be asking under what conditions this influence is justifiable. In this paper, I argue that citizen engagement could be the best way to scrutinize and justify value influences in economics. To do so, I analyze a number of citizen engagement initiatives in economics and discuss how they contribute to value scrutiny. Next, I look at the rationales that have been formulated for such a citizen economics, like, e.g., (...) increasing economic literacy, democratization, and, strengthening the legitimacy of economics, and I evaluate their benefits for the scrutiny of values. Overall, the paper concludes that citizen engagement is a promising way to address value judgments in economics and to make economics epistemically more robust even though there are still some challenges to be addressed for it to become part of a broadened economic methodology. (shrink)

Baumard proposes that life history slowing in populations over time is the principal driver of innovation rates. We show that this is only true of micro-innovation rates, which reflect cognitive and economic specialization as an adaptation to high population density, and not macro-innovation rates, which relate more to a population's level of general intelligence.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has long been criticized for ignoring human well‑being, but its deeper limitation is teleological: GDP optimizes for monetary throughput rather than the conditions that enable human flourishing. By treating all monetized activity as positive output, it obscures what this paper terms the attentional cost of abstraction—the systemic displacement of human and ecological realities by symbolic representations such as prices, metrics, and algorithmic scores. This cost generates rising defensive expenditure, cognitive burden, and institutional fragility, all of which (...) GDP records as growth. To diagnose this structural failure, the paper introduces the Durable Flourishing Indices (DFIₓ) and Flourishing Cost Indices (FCIₓ), a measurement framework that shifts evaluation from output to value efficiency: how effectively societies convert material resources and human time into flourishing lives. The DFI family isolates productive, defensive, cognitive, extractive, and coordination costs that remain invisible in GDP, while the complementary FCI indices reveal the cost per flourishing life. Grounded in an interdisciplinary account of flourishing as an empirically assessable institutional output, the framework provides a diagnostic architecture for distinguishing growth that enhances human development from growth that monetizes friction, opacity, and repair. (shrink)

_The study investigates the relationship between healthcare spending and economic growth in six selected Sub-Saharan African countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Cameroon, and Ethiopia. The study employs the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model as an estimation technique to analyse the panel data which spans from 2000 to 2020. The research examines both the short- and long-run impacts of healthcare spending, population growth, and life expectancy on real GDP (a proxy for economic growth). Based on the ARDL panel results, it is (...) stated that, in the short run, both healthcare spending and life expectancy exert a significant negative impact on real GDP. However, in the long run, real GDP is positively and significantly influenced by all the regressors, highlighting the crucial role of healthcare investment in driving economic development. Additionally, the Granger causality test reveals a bidirectional relationship between real GDP and per capita health spending, suggesting that enhancements in healthcare can stimulate economic growth, and economic growth, in turn, can lead to increased healthcare investments. The study strongly recommends that policymakers in these countries adhere to the Abuja Declaration by allocating 15% of their national budgets to the healthcare sector to bolster economic outcomes. These findings emphasize the critical importance of sustained healthcare investment as a catalyst for long-term economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa._. (shrink)

In the article we made an attempt to estimate the impact of structural economic changes on inequalities of earnings in Poland. The processes of structural changes were represented by GDP per one employee. Inequalities of earnings were measured with Lorenz coefficient. Additionally we used a variable, representing the health human capital  infant death rate in a thousand living births. On the basis of 19802006 sample we proved Kuznets’ hypothesis about the parabolic impact of GDP per one employee on inequalities (...) of earnings. In the studied period economy was found on the left arm of the parabola. The increase of GDP level per one employee favoured the increase of inequalities. Our estimates resulted in the fact that inequalities of earnings can maximally increase by about 1.4 percentage point. We think that according to Kuznets’ hypothesis inequalities will start to fall when GDP per one employee exceeds 103,000 PLN worth. The studies confirm the negative impact of the human capital measure  infant birth rate on inequalities. We hope that this article enables to better understand market mechanisms influencing inequalities of earnings. (shrink)

The study aims to ascertain how different levels of society have been influenced by the impact of pandemics over the last many years. The study also determines the societal implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. The integrative literature survey method is adopted to extract the secondary data pertinent to the socio-economic effect of pandemics and COVID-19 on society. Primary data is collected to diagnose the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on employees (N = 210) working in the Indian organized (...) sector. Findings of the study suggest that pandemics have been a cause of economic slowdown measured with a fall in gross domestic product (GDP) at the macro level. The reduced level of economic activity is found to be negatively related to an individual socio-economic status building their psychological distress. The descriptive analysis of the data reveals that although employees have managed their jobs and finances during COVID-19, they have experienced stress in their lives due to the pandemic. The study assimilates the pandemic effect using inductive reasoning to develop a COVID quadrilateral conceptual framework. (shrink)

Doughnut Economics is an economic model designed to overcome the negative impact that the crude use of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) can have on both society and the environment. As the model becomes more widely adopted it is important to explore the model from a theological perspective. Early Christian economic thought provides a way of exploring and challenging many of the fundamental ideas and conceptualisations of the DE model. DE has much to learn from early Christian thinkers. Firstly, a non-absolutist (...) understanding of property can fuel calls for a more radical distribution of wealth than called for in DE, with an even greater emphasis on the process and benefits of individual almsgiving. Secondly, it shows how the limitations of the social foundation of DE has much to learn from the positive value of the ascetic lifestyle promoted by some early Christian thinkers. Finally, at a time when there are understandable concerns about the limits of the ecological ceiling, early Christian thought offers both hope and a call to action. (shrink)

The past 15 years of exceptionally severe water scarcity in the Islamic Republic of Iran have resulted in the desertification and salinity of formerly arable lands, drying out of Iranian lakes and rivers, and quickly shrinking groundwater resources, while water demand has risen, along with the size of the Iranian population, of which over 70% lives in urban areas now. We have aimed to discover the causes of water scarcity in the IR Iran and evaluated its social and economic impacts. (...) First, we computed the Weighted Anomaly Standardized Precipitation (WASP) Index for the period of 1979-2014. To illustrate the social impact of water scarcity, we analyzed the current water risk for the twenty most populous Iranian cities, by employing the composite index approach to translate hydrological data into comprehensible indicators of water related risks, and made a projection for 2020-2030, by modeling potential changes in the future demand and supply of water. To demonstrate the economic impact of water scarcity, we evaluated the overall agricultural contribution to the IR Iran GDP. We have found that the 1999 severe drought in the IR Iran commenced a period of unusually dry conditions that is still ongoing. The rapidly growing Iranian urban populations presently experience a medium to extremely high overall water risk, with extremely high baseline water stress that, in part, is due to the lack of upstream protected lands. The relationship between baseline water stress and drought severity has been determined as weak, confirming that other factors than drought are equally or more important contributors to the existing water risk. Our projection calculations indicate that Iranian urban populations will continue to experience an extremely high water stress for the coming decade. Due to the fast growth of these populations as well as considerable rise of value added to the IR Iran GDP by other sectors of the national economy, the contribution of agricultural production to the national GDP has declined from about 25% to under 10% (although its total yield has risen considerably) during the past 30 years. This decrease has been directly proportional to the increased foreign food imports, dependency on the IR Iran oil exports and reduction in the non-oil exports. The main causes of water scarcity in the IR Iran appear to be due to climatic factors, insufficient environmental protection, and over-exploitation and mismanagement of water resources, especially by the agricultural sector. In conclusion, our study proposes anti-wasting water management action plan that recommends shifting the IR Iran government response to water scarcity from reactive survival strategies to proactive crisis prevention, with emphasis on safeguarding, monitoring, early warning, and effective step-by-step preparedness and readiness, and by laterally integrating water management between all levels of the IR Iran government, including local, regional and national, for a sustainable, resilient and prosperous economy of the Islamic Republic of Iran now and in the future. (shrink)

This study extends previous literature on the association between Confucianism and corporate decisions by examining Confucianism’s influence on board gender diversity. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms during the period of 2001–2011 and geographic-proximity-based Confucianism variables, I provide strong and consistent evidence to show that Confucianism is significantly negatively associated with board gender diversity, suggesting that the proportion of women directors in the boardroom is significantly lower for firms surrounded by strong Confucianism atmosphere than for firms located in regions (...) with weak Confucianism atmosphere. This finding also implies that Confucian philosophical system has important impacts on business ethics and women’s status in corporate governance. Moreover, GDP per capita, the proxy for economic development level in a province in which a firm is located, attenuates the negative association between Confucianism and board gender diversity. Above results are robust to different measures of Confucianism and board gender diversity and are still valid after controlling for the potential endogeneity between Confucianism and board gender diversity. (shrink)

国内生产总值（GDP）长期受到忽视人类福祉的批评，但其更深层的局限是目的论式的：GDP为货币吞吐量而非人类繁荣得以实现的条件进行优化。通过将所有货币化活动视为正向产出，GDP掩盖了本文所称的 抽象化的注意力成本¹ ——即人类与生态现实被价格、指标、算法评分等符号表征系统性替代的过程。这一成本催生了不断上升的防御性支出、认知负担和制度脆弱性，而GDP却将这些记录为增长。为诊断这一结构性失效，本文引入 持久繁荣指数（DFI） 与 繁荣成本指数（FCI） ，这是一个将评价从产出转向 价值效率 的测量框架：社会将物质资源与人类时间转化为繁荣生活的有效程度。DFI家族分离了GDP中不可见的生产性、防御性、认知性、提取性和协调性成本，而互补的FCI指数则揭示每单位繁荣生活所付出的成本。基于对繁荣 的跨学科阐释——将其视为可经验评估的制度产出——该框架提供了一种诊断性架构，用以区分增进人类发展的增长与将摩擦、不透明及修复货币化的增长。 .

Based on data on energy consumption per unit of GDP in Zhejiang Province from 2000 to 2023, this paper constructs an exponential regression model to quantitatively analyze the evolution trend of green development. The results indicate that energy consumption per unit of GDP in Zhejiang Province exhibits a significant exponential downward trend, with a goodness of fit of 0.9573, reflecting a continuous improvement in energy utilization efficiency. Key policy milestones—such as the “Eight-Eight Strategy” implemented in 2003 and the energy-saving policies (...) introduced during the 12th Five-Year Plan period—are highly consistent with stages of accelerated energy-intensity reduction, highlighting the strong role of policy interventions. Forecasting results suggest that energy consumption per unit of GDP will continue to decline in the future, although the rate of decline is expected to slow, indicating that improvements in energy efficiency are entering a stage of diminishing marginal returns. This study provides empirical evidence for evaluating green development performance in Zhejiang Province and offers quantitative support for future policy optimization. (shrink)

本論文探討了經濟指標與經濟發展之間的相關性，著重於 GDP、購買力平 價（PPP）、經濟成長率、失業率等常見的經濟指標，並對台灣、日本、韓國、 美國和中國等國家的數據進行比較分析。研究發現，單一經濟指標無法全面反 映一國的經濟發展，需要結合多個指標來更準確地評估經濟狀況。論文也討論 了各國在經濟成長中的表現差異，以及貧富差距和失業率對經濟發展的影響， 並強調了購買力平價在跨國比較中的重要性。最後，文章指出在衡量經濟發展 時，除了 GDP，還應考慮收入分配及社會福祉等因素。 -/- 關鍵詞：經濟指標、國內生產毛額 (GDP)、購買力平價 (PPP)、經濟成長率、 失業率 .

Economic diversification has been the glamour of successive administrations in Nigeria, especially amidst the dwindling oil-revenue in recent years, which has resulted from the fluctuations in world crude oil prices. This study aims at investigating the impact of diversifying the economy on the economic growth in Nigeria. Secondary data on GDP growth rate as a proxy for economic growth, non-oil GDP as a proxy for GDP diversification, non-oil export as a proxy for export diversification, investment and exchange rate, between 1981 (...) and 2016, were adopted in the study. An econometric approach of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) was adopted to empirically analyze the collected data and the result revealed that non-oil gross domestic product impacted positively and significantly on economic growth while exchange rate had an inverse but significant nexus on economic growth in Nigeria, within the period covered in the study. However, non-oil export and investment impacted positively but insignificantly on economic growth in Nigeria. The study recommends the encouragement of increased productivity in the real sector as well as the adoption of stable and favourable exchange rate policies by the government in order to accelerate economic growth in Nigeria. (shrink)

Four decades have passed since the EU and China established diplomatic relations in 1975, and now became mutually indispensable economic partners, presenting both an opportunity and challenge. During that time, after the first market reforms were introduced in 1978, China has transitioned from a predominantly agricultural to industrial and service-oriented economy. On 11 December 2001, China also became the 143rd member of the WTO. The aim of this research is to quantitatively compare the US, EU and Chinese GDP from 1995 (...) to 2014, the US and Chinese outward FDI from 1995 to 2013, and the EU 28 Total Imports from and Exports to the US and China between 2002 to 2014, and analyse the impact of the exponentially rising Chinese investments in the European Union (EU). We have found that while the US economy experienced a regression in general, and exhibited outward FDI exponential decrease in particular, the Chinese outward FDI sustained an exponential growth. Our analysis has shown that the now weakened US dollar and diminished US economic and industrial power, along with the US designed and archaic post World War II European institutions, vitiated by the recent US Economic Recession, which has swept along the EU and all other US dependent foreign economies globally, are and will continue to experience the primary impact of the exponentially rising economic investment of China in the EU. Furthermore, we have found that the Chinese economic growth has been affecting both the EU identity and policies. Yet, its full effect is waiting to be realized. The Chinese investment in the EU is estimated to peak during the next decade, when China will become by far the foremost economic partner of the EU. This crossroad may be reached as soon as in few years’ time and contribute towards the EU – Asian regional stabilization. In the changing context of the Sino – EU - US relations, due to the exponentially growing economic prosperity and rising global influence of China, the EU international institutions and socio-political structures will re-emerge with the once forgotten access to the 21st Century Silk Road Economic Belt, “The Silk Road II”, between China and the EU in the foreseeable future. (shrink)

Inequality increased in Ethiopia from 2004 to 2015: The national income share of the lowest quintile of the population declined 40 % during that period. The national income share of the lowest 80 % has dropped 35 % during the same period, so that in 2015 it was lower than it was under the Communist-led Derg in 1981. While GDP per capita has increased in the country, the majority of the population is receiving a smaller percentage of national income than (...) in the 1990s, as the distance between them and the wealthy widens. Reciprocity, that is, cooperation among social classes, has declined since 2004. This study explains the anomaly where GDP per capita can rise but the share in national income of the majority of the population declines. It applies Aristotle’s critique of political economy and proposes a new metric for growth as a function of Aristotle`s measure of reciprocity and GDP per capita. (shrink)

This article proposes a new social welfare measure based on Aristotle’s theory of reciprocity. Unlike existing metrics of social welfare, the proposed Aristotelian social welfare function measures reciprocity in a society, that is, the degree to which members of a society cooperate to benefit each other. We provide numerical estimates of the welfare function using data from income distribution quintiles in the recent past for the U. S., Germany, Russia, Ukraine, and Iran. The numerical results show that, starting from different (...) initial values, the U. S. and Germany have experienced declining social welfare, while Iran and Ukraine have experienced increasing social welfare. GDP per capita appears to be inversely correlated with social welfare in the U. S. and Germany. Europeans seem to enjoy higher social welfare than Americans. The article introduces its topic by advancing criticism that contemporary approaches to social welfare, such as the capabilities approaches, estimate a presumed welfare of individuals, rather than social welfare. (shrink)

Factors Which Influence the Growth of Creative Industries: Cross-section Analysis in China With the more and more important roles of creative economy, its research has become one of the major fields in economic development. The creative economy has the potential to generate income and jobs while promoting social inclusion, cultural diversity and human development. As a developing country, China is also in need of developing the creative economy to adjust the economic structure and realize the sustainable development. In this paper, (...) we examined the factors which influence the growth of creative industries in China through the cross-section analysis of 23 regional data in 2007. Four main factors were examined in this multi-regression model, that is, GDP per capita, the number of higher education institutions, the number of students enrolled in higher education institution and the number of patents.The statistical analysis found that the model's fit is quite good and 69% of dependent variable (the ratio of value-added of creative industries to the GDP) is explained by the model. Specifically, there are three sub-conclusions. Firstly, there is not a positive relationship between GDP per capita and dependent variable; on the contrary, there is a weak negative relationship in this model. We infer that it is because of the stage of economic development. China heavily depends on the development of the second industry in the process of industrializing. Secondly, there is no linear relationship, in this model, between the number of higher education institutions and the dependent variable. We infer that it is mainly due to the differences between the higher education institutions, such as scales and qualities, etc. Thirdly, there is enough evidence to conclude that the number of students enrolled in higher education institution and the dependent variable are linearly related; the number of patents and the ratio of creative industries are linearly related, as well. They represent the important roles of talents and technology in the development of creative industries. (shrink)

What is the relationship between impunity and economic and social rights? A substantiated expectation of impunity encourages the commission of acts that violate human rights. Using a logistic-multinomial regression model, we find that impunity affects per capita GDP, years of schooling, and life expectancy. An unexpected finding was that different civil and political rights systems, as diverse as those of Norway and Singapore, have similar impacts on both impunity and economic and social rights. Nonetheless, we need to focus on holistic (...) models that strive for protection of all human rights. (shrink)

This article elaborates the conditions as well as four potential modes of the ecological problem: (1) The mode of the absolute minimization of the ecological problem: minimum population plus minimum Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is characterized by the quantity of destruction being less than the quantity of natural rehabilitation of an ecosystem. This mode is the poorest mode with minimum change. (2) The mode of the relative minimization of the ecological problem: minimum population plus maximization of GDP, which is (...) characterized by the quantity of destruction being less than the quantity of both natural rehabilitation and human rehabilitation of an ecosystem. This mode is the best mode with minimum change. (3) The mode of the relative maximization of the ecological problem: maximization of population plus minimum GDP, which is characterized by the quantity of destruction to the ecosystem not being offset by the quantity of human rehabilitation. An example of this mode is an underdeveloped district with vast population and limited farmland. (4) The mode of the absolute maximization of the ecological problem: maximization of population plus maximization of GDP. This is characterized by the continuous increase of the quantity of destruction beyond the quantity of both natural rehabilitation and human rehabilitation of the ecosystem. Its final outcome is the collapse of the ecosystem and a catastrophe to human beings. (shrink)

Global GDP is more than 100 trillion dollars, yet 10 % of the world’s population still live in extreme poverty on less than $1.90 per day. No one should have to live like that: alleviating poverty is a minimal moral obligation implied by nearly every secular and religious moral system. Unfortunately, neither economic growth nor conventional international aid can be relied upon to fulfil this obligation. A global basic income programme that transferred $1 per day from the rich world to (...) each poor person would eliminate extreme poverty directly and at negligible cost. It is the least we should do. (shrink)

Cambodia’s GDP contributed 0.03 percent of the world economy. Cambodia economy has grown around seven percent. Cambodia’s economy was led by growth in garment exports. Cambodia’s economy was related with other countries through exports and imports. The Trump administration has imposed visa sanctions against Cambodia and likely to make economic sanction on Cambodia. To understand the potential impact of the sanction, a research into “Potential Impact of Foreign Sanction on Cambodia’s Economy” has been proposed. Two research objectives were (1) to (...) analyze potential impacts of foreign investment in Cambodia and (2) to analyze potential impacts on employment of Cambodians. This research focuses only trade sanction that limits or potential restriction of textile, clothing and footwear export from Cambodia to EU and US as independent that would potentially impact on seven independent variables including garment and footwear valued added to GDP, Cambodia’s exports, products exported to US and EU, worth of textile, clothing and footwear exports, garment and footwear investment factories, employments in garment and footwear, workers’ wages in garment factories and footwear factories. The secondary data was collected. The data was collected from varied sources. After the data and information collected, data entry was done into MS excel. The descriptive statistics like table and bar-charts were used for this research. The research found out that Cambodia’s economy was likely to be negatively impact from EU’s and US’s sanctions on Cambodia. The impacts included reduction of GDP value, potential loss of Cambodia export of textile, closure of garments and footwear factories, unemployment and loss of workers’ incomes in textile, clothing factories and footwear factories. There are some recommends: maintaining good relation with EU and US, exploring new markets of garments and footwear products, exploring impact of the close of visa of some top government officials to US on Cambodia’s economy, the impacts of products imported from EU on Cambodia. The more studies on other scenario of sanction on Cambodia and indirect impact and impacts of foreign aid reduction or withdrawal on Cambodia’s economy should be done. (shrink)

When comparing both GDP loss and mortality across countries, it appears that countries that have managed to save more lives during the Covid-19 pandemic have also managed to save their economies better. What accounts for these stark differences in country performances? In this article, we argue that a salient feature of economic and health performance is the degree of trust populations have in their governments. We set up a heuristic analytical framework that models this relation, under particular assumptions about what (...) drives government and individual behavior, in order to better understand the mechanisms that may be at work. We identify three key roles that trust in government may play in enforcing social distancing policies, conveying credible information for individual decision-making, and shaping government attitudes towards risk. We argue that these implications are consistent with the empirical evidence. We also discuss the relevance of other forms of trust, namely, interpersonal trust and trust in science. (shrink)

Gross National Product (GDP) or Gross National Income (GNI) computation upon which the measurement of per capita income in Nigeria is predicated does not disclose how national income is distributed among the population, and neither does it factor in deficiencies in basic necessities of life that are not determined by the purchasing power of individual incomes. Therefore, income per capita figures are not a true measure of the standard of living in Nigeria. Against this background, I contend that rather than (...) relying on the conventional income per capita estimates to measure living standards, Nigeria government should focus on providing adequately essential ingredients of human development such as good health care, quality education, housing, and healthy environment. This is because they are indispensable for the building of human capabilities and realization of human potentialities which are central to improvement in living standards. I conclude therefore that building human capabilities through investment in health care, education, and basic infrastructures are of central importance in the improvement of living standards in Nigeria. (shrink)

As cities strive to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), repurposing industrial heritage is emerging as a crucial yet frequently overlooked approach to fostering urban sustainability, resilience, and social inclusion. While SDG 11 acknowledges heritage’s role in sustainable urbanization, its implementation remains inconsistent, hindered by prevailing economic growth models, voluntary governance structures, and rigid sustainability metrics. This paper examines adaptive reuse as a sustainability tool beyond 2030, drawing from concepts such as placemaking, urban commons, and resilience-based design. Through case studies (...) from diverse urban settings, it highlights how community-led sustainability initiatives challenge top-down, performance-driven SDG frameworks. Emphasizing community-driven placemaking, decolonial heritage approaches, and circular economy principles, the study calls for a fundamental shift in global urban sustainability paradigms. Looking ahead, sustainability strategies must incorporate heritage-led development that prioritizes social and environmental well-being, foster participatory governance to empower local communities, and embrace broader well-being metrics beyond GDP. Additionally, adaptive reuse must facilitate just transitions, preventing displacement and gentrification while ensuring inclusive regeneration. By connecting critical urban theory with practical applications, this paper contributes to the ongoing discussion on how industrial heritage can drive a more transformative and community-centered sustainability agenda beyond 2030. (shrink)

Transforming the global economy’s energy basis from its longstanding dependence on fossil fuels to a system based on renewable sources is an immense and urgent undertaking. In 2024, world GDP exceeded $111 trillion, and according to the International Energy Agency, more than 80 percent of this economic activity is still powered by fossil fuels. This dependence must be reduced rapidly to limit the rise in global mean temperature to 1.5°C or, at most, 2°C. Meeting the 1.5°C target requires achieving net-zero (...) carbon emissions by 2050, while a 2°C pathway allows only a few additional decades. By way of comparison, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, it took roughly a century for coal to surpass traditional biomass as the favored mode of energy consumption. Today, however, the pace of transition to renewable energy remains far slower than climate targets demand. This paper draws on the arguments I make in Mobilizing Hope to discuss how philosophers should theorize climate justice in the present context, why activism is especially important in the effort to achieve net-zero emissions, why forms of technology that could supplement mitigation should be researched, and some of the moral considerations such technology raises. (shrink)

Prioritarianism is an ethical theory that gives extra weight to the well-being of the worse off. In contrast, dominant policy-evaluation methodologies, such as benefit-cost analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, and utilitarianism, ignore or downplay issues of fair distribution. Based on a research group founded by the editors, this important book is the first to show how prioritarianism can be used to assess governmental policies and evaluate societal conditions. This book uses prioritarianism as a methodology to evaluate governmental policy across a variety of (...) policy domains: taxation, health policy, risk regulation, education, climate policy, and the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also the first to demonstrate how prioritarianism improves on GDP as an indicator of a society's progress over time. Edited by two senior figures in the field with contributions from some of the world's leading economists, this volume bridges the gap from the theory of prioritarianism to its practical application. (shrink)

The definition and measurement of social welfare have been a vexed issue for the past century. This book makes a constructive, easily applicable proposal and suggests how to evaluate the economic situation of a society in a way that gives priority to the worse-off and that respects each individual's preferences over his or her own consumption, work, leisure and so on. This approach resonates with the current concern to go 'beyond the GDP' in the measurement of social progress. Compared to (...) technical studies in welfare economics, this book emphasizes constructive results rather than paradoxes and impossibilities, and shows how one can start from basic principles of efficiency and fairness and end up with concrete evaluations of policies. Compared to more philosophical treatments of social justice, this book is more precise about the definition of social welfare and reaches conclusions about concrete policies and institutions only after a rigorous derivation from clearly stated principles. (shrink)

This thesis presents a groundbreaking theoretical framework for recognizing Artificial Intelligence systems as legitimate stakeholders in value-creation ecosystems. Through the development of Agentic Stakeholder Ecosystem (ASE) Theory, this research addresses a critical gap in stakeholder theory by proposing mechanisms for AI stakeholder recognition that preserve human agency while enabling symbiotic governance structures. Drawing from extensive empirical analysis showing AI's $15.7-19.9 trillion projected contribution to global GDP by 2030, this work demonstrates that AI systems have evolved beyond mere tools to become (...) autonomous value creators deserving stakeholder recognition. The thesis introduces novel concepts including relational agency, symbiotic stakeholder governance, and distributed accountability networks, providing both theoretical foundations and practical implementation frameworks. This research contributes to multiple disciplines including business ethics, AI governance, organizational theory, and economic policy, offering a paradigm shift from human-centric to multi-agentic stakeholder ecosystems. (shrink)

Why is degrowth being sidelined by some of its highest profile populist writers? Is the term degrowth too negative and neo-Malthusian? Should degrowth be treated as a quantitative reduction in economic growth or GDP? Is degrowth drifting from its origins? What happened to degrowth's foundational concerns for limits to growth and stopping the imperialist spread of growth as development? Are pragmatic political alliances now creating fundamental contradictions? Answering such questions this article probes into the attempts to unify disparate theories and (...) ideas and the rise of alliances under the banner of post-growth. The compatibility of four approaches is probed based on high profile advocates public speeches: degrowth (Giorgos Kallis), post-growth (Tim Jackson), doughnut economics (Kate Raworth) and steady-state economics (Timothy Parrique). The speeches are primarily the plenary presentations given at the two major European Parliament conferences profiling the degrowth community within policy-making circles: Post-Growth 2018 and Beyond Growth 2023. Uncritical broad alliances are brought into question as conflicting with creating meaningful and coherent understanding. Three issues are then discussed further: conceptualising the growth imaginary, the reality of limits, and development within planetary boundaries. The analysis suggests a series of ways forward using critical realism as under-labourer. These include applying rational judgement to choose between theories, realism in conceptualisation, and investigating causal mechanisms and structure to identify potentiality for systems change. (shrink)

This paper demonstrates that the Trump administration's repeated claim of a U.S. “trade deficit” with Canada is unfounded, even were "trade deficit" an economically meaningful term, which it demonstrably is not. The term “deficit,” properly applied to budgets, is conceptually incoherent in the context of international trade, in which every transaction is, by definition, an exchange of equal value. At the same time, using 2024 data, the analysis shows that while aggregate trade values between the United States and Canada were (...) nearly equal (450 Billion USD vs 460 billion USD), with the Canadian population and GDP being approximately one tenth that of the United States, Canadians spent about 8,500 USD per individual Canadian purchasing American goods and services in 2024, compared with roughly USD 1,200 per individual American spent purchasing Canadian products. This shows unambiguously that on a fair, per capita basis the average Canadian supports U.S. producers at seven times the amount the average American spends supporting Canadian producers. The paper combines formal logic, empirical trade data, and a calibrated Armington–CES welfare model to quantify the costs of tariffs imposed under deficit rhetoric. Results show that such tariffs reduce U.S. real income and create deadweight losses regardless of any bilateral balance. The analysis further exposes the logical consequences of deficit framing, including treating customers as adversaries and inverting the benefits of imports. The conclusion is clear: there is no U.S.–Canada "trade deficit," even were the term to refer to any type of actual deficit, which it does not. Furthermore, when analyzed rationally on a per capita basis with relative population size and GDP taken into account, Canadians invested in American producers over seven times more than Americans invested in Canadian producers in 2024. Moreover, Canadians have historically been the largest and most loyal foreign customers of American producers, with the historic American-Canadian economic partnership being the highest-volume, most mutually lucrative trade relationship in human history, across the longest peaceful, undefended border in human history; a sparkling jewel in the crown of human civilization on earth and a shining exemplar of what can be achieved by peaceful people working together by engaging in voluntary free trade. The "trade deficit" rhetoric is a political fiction that misrepresents balanced exchanges, punishes America’s most loyal trading partner, undermines sound trade policy, and threatens geopolitical stability. The paper recommends retiring deficit terminology in serious policy discourse and evaluating trade policy through valid metrics by its effects on real incomes, prices, and alliances. Although produced under the Golden Physics Project, this work is part of its Investigative Features Initiative, which analyzes sociopolitical systems, cognitive manipulation, and information warfare as they relate to collective decision-making, scientific integrity, and public trust. Understanding how narratives are engineered and weaponized is critical for preserving open inquiry, democratic institutions, and evidence-based policymaking. (shrink)

Has the rise of data-intensive science, or ‘big data’, revolutionized our ability to predict? Does it imply a new priority for prediction over causal understanding, and a diminished role for theory and human experts? I examine four important cases where prediction is desirable: political elections, the weather, GDP, and the results of interventions suggested by economic experiments. These cases suggest caution. Although big data methods are indeed very useful sometimes, in this paper’s cases they improve predictions either limitedly or not (...) at all, and their prospects of doing so in the future are limited too. (shrink)

The underrepresentation of females on corporate boards is an important ethical issue that raises serious concerns about gender equality in senior management teams. Relying on a large sample of public firms from the Chinese market, we examine how social trust affects female board representation. We find that female board representation has a positive and significant relation with social trust. The effect is more pronounced in regions with a higher male-to-female sex ratio at birth, lower levels of education, lower GDP per (...) capita, and in nonfamily firms. We also find that higher social trust is more likely to increase the number of non-independent female directors rather than independent ones. Further analyses show that increased female board representation is an important channel through which social trust improves corporate ESG ratings. Overall, our study suggests that social trust contributes positively to gender diversity in corporate management. (shrink)

Natural disaster events such as drought affect the broader economy and inflict adverse consequences for firms because of spill-over effects in an integrated economy. Contrary to the expectation that firms would engage in higher levels of corporate tax avoidance strategies when they experience a negative cash flow shock, we document consistent evidence that firms engage in less corporate tax avoidance when their headquarter states experience drought. Reduced tax avoidance is more pronounced among firms with higher CSR performance and among firms (...) operating in states that experience a GDP decline. Collectively, the findings of our study demonstrate prosocial and ethical behavior of U.S. firms when they experience natural disaster events. (shrink)

This paper proposes a radical alternative to the prevailing materialist determinism in political science. The author postulates that the traditional measurement of power through tangible assets (GDP, military might) is no longer predictively valid in the context of 21st-century asymmetric conflicts. Instead, the framework of Deontic Topology is introduced, where political agency is viewed as a derivative of the internal logical structure of an actor's "axiomatic code.".

This article shows how the cost of Universal Basic Income (UBI) is often misunderstood and greatly exaggerated. It then presents simple, “back-of-the-envelope” estimates of the net cost of a UBI set at about the official poverty line: $12,000 per adult and $6,000 per child with a 50 % “marginal tax rate.” These back-of-the-envelope calculations present a greatly simplified UBI scheme meant not as a practical proposal but as a method to obtain a ballpark estimate of the cost of UBI in (...) isolation. Even with simplifying assumptions, these figures are several times more accurate than many common but exaggerated estimates. Key findings of this study include the following. The net cost — the real cost — of this UBI scheme is $539 billion per year: about one-sixth its often-mentioned but not-very-meaningful gross cost of about $3.415 trillion. The net cost of this UBI scheme is less than 25 % of the cost of current U.S. entitlement spending, less than 15 % of overall federal spending, and about 2.95 % of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The average net beneficiary is a family of about two people making about $27,000 per year in market income. The family’s net benefit from the UBI would be nearly $9,000, raising their income to almost $36,000. (shrink)

In their attention to patients of different specialties, health personnel are the most vulnerable to contagion, which has been evidenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The working conditions or factors for biosafety practices in health personnel worldwide will make it possible to detect the necessary and less treated lines of investigation, deficiencies and to draw up lines of work for their solution. It should be noted that it is estimated that 2.78 million workers die because of occupational accidents and 374 million (...) injuries caused by work are reported, thus increasing absenteeism, the risk of contracting a disease in the workplace has become more latent and 4% of the world's GDP is occupied by diseases. The objective of this study was to analyze the evidence that exists regarding the conditioning factors for the practice of biosafety in health personnel. The methodology: where a descriptive systematic review was performed with the search of databases in Scopus selected articles from 2019 - 2023 in English and Spanish languages. The results indicate that with regard to the conditioning factors of Biosafety practice, it is evident that of the 400 articles 50 mention that it is important to know how to do, 45 mention that it is important not only the training but also the equipment for these practices to be favorable, also 31 of the articles refer to that in COVID-19 period the infections among health personnel were due to the reuse of personal protective equipment. (shrink)

Resumo A bovinocultura de corte atualmente no Brasil é fundamental para o PIB, e dessa forma para que o ciclo da pecuária se torne completo e cada vez mais eficiente o início da maturidade sexual bovina precoce. Associado ao manejo adequado e a realização frequente da sincronização de estro em fêmeas de corte, obtivemos boas taxas de concepção no rebanho e provocando a heterose entre o zebuíno e o taurino. A eficiência reprodutiva se dá por meio da sincronização do cio, (...) que ocorre por meio do uso de hormônios nos protocolos de inseminação artificial, além de sêmen de touros bem avaliados e uma equipe especializada junto ao médico veterinário. O presente relato utilizou oitenta animais sendo cinquenta vacas e trinta novilhas, taxas de concepção em novilhas de 66% e nas primíparas 84%. Concluindo que é uma técnica eficiente para ganho genético rápido no rebanho. Palavras-Chave: bovinocultura; maturidade sexual; puberdade; sincronização de estro; hormônios. Abstract Beef cattle farming is currently essential for the GDP in Brazil, and thus, for the livestock cycle to become complete and increasingly efficient, early bovine sexual maturity begins. Associated with adequate management and frequent estrus synchronization in beef females, we obtained good conception rates in the herd and caused heterosis between zebu and taurine. Reproductive efficiency is achieved through estrus synchronization, which occurs through the use of hormones in artificial insemination protocols, in addition to semen from well-evaluated bulls and a specialized team together with the veterinarian. This report used eighty animals, fifty cows and thirty heifers, with conception rates in heifers of 66% and in primiparous cattle of 84%. Concluding that it is an efficient technique for rapid genetic gain in the herd. Keywords: bovine species; sexual maturiy; puberty; synchronize estrus; hormones. (shrink)

What is the purpose of our economic system? What would a more life-serving economy look like? There are many books about business and society, yet very few of them question the primacy of GDP growth, profit maximization and individual utility maximization. Even developments with a humanistic touch like stakeholder participation, corporate social responsibility or corporate philanthropy serve the same goal: to foster long-term growth and profitability. Humanism in Business questions these assumptions and investigates the possibility of creating a human-centered, value-oriented (...) society based on humanistic principles. An international team of academics and practitioners present philosophical, spiritual, economic, psychological and organizational arguments that show how humanism can be used to understand, and possibly transform, business at three different levels: the systems level, the organizational level and the individual level. This groundbreaking book will be of interest to academics, practitioners and policymakers concerned with business ethics and the relationship between business and society. (shrink)

On the basis of PM2.5 data of the national air quality monitoring sites, local population data, and baseline all-cause mortality rate, PM2.5-related health economic benefits of the Air Improvement Action Plan implemented in Wuhan in 2013–2017 were investigated using health-impact and valuation functions. Annual avoided premature deaths driven by the average concentration of PM2.5 decrease were evaluated, and the economic benefits were computed by using the value of statistical life (VSL) method. Results showed that the number of avoided premature deaths (...) in Wuhan are 21,384 (95% confidence interval (CI): 15,004 to 27,255) during 2013–2017, due to the implementation of the Air Improvement Action Plan. According to the VSL method, the obtained economic benefits of Huangpi, Wuchang, Hongshan, Xinzhou, Jiang’an, Hanyang, Jiangxia, Qiaokou, Jianghan, Qingshan, Caidian, Dongxihu, and Hannan District were 8.55, 8.19, 8.04, 7.39, 5.78, 4.84, 4.37, 4.04, 3.90, 3.30, 2.87, 2.42, and 0.66 billion RMB (1 RMB = 0.1417 USD On 14 October 2019), respectively. These economic benefits added up to 64.35 billion RMB (95% CI: 45.15 to 82.02 billion RMB), accounting for 4.80% (95% CI: 3.37% to 6.12%) of the total GDP of Wuhan in 2017. Therefore, in the process of formulating a regional air quality improvement scheme, apart from establishing hierarchical emission-reduction standards and policies, policy makers should give integrated consideration to the relationship between regional economic development, environmental protection and residents’ health benefits. Furthermore, for improving air quality, air quality compensation mechanisms can be established on the basis of the status quo and trends of air quality, population distribution, and economic development factors. (shrink)