A synthesis of Beyond-GDP metrics for Wellbeing, Inclusion, and Sustainability including a deep-dive into EU metrics and their role in governance

For decades, there has been criticism of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of social progress. Many measurement systems, including indexes (which summarise progress in one number) or dashboards of indicators, have been proposed by  academics, NGOs, international institutes and governments. To overcomes the great heterogeneity, consolidation of methodologies and terminology is needed. 

This report offers a synthesizing framework to categorise the most important Beyond-GDP metrics using a conceptual framework based on the Brundtland and  Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi reports. The framework helps to focus on the commonalties between metrics rather than the differences. The "WISE" framework distinguishes three dimensions: wellbeing of current generations ("Wellbeing"), distribution of wellbeing ("Inclusion") and wellbeing of future generations ("Sustainability"). 

The synthesis shows that it is possible to categorise Beyond-GDP metrics using this framework, despite the measurement systems coming from different scientific schools of thought (including welfare economics, needs theories and system-based assessments). An inventory of the many initiatives of governments around the world is also provided as well as an analysis of the influential Beyond-GDP metrics. 

In addition, this report also contains an in-depth discussion of eleven dashboards that are used in European policymaking to illuminate the ability of metrics to effectively steer policymaking into desirable directions. The deep-dive into these monitoring and evaluation frameworks indicates that sustainability is currently the main political priority, with binding political targets having been enacted in this domain. There is, however, a bias towards the environmental dimension of sustainability, while other factors that might affect future wellbeing such as an aging population, are underrepresented. Inclusion is the secondary focus of current EU policymaking, covering a wide range of issues such as income disparities, gender equality, and energy poverty. Wellbeing – while being generally well represented – was found to lack a holistic policy framework. Lastly, the analysis highlighted that using metrics for formulating binding targets and instituting enforcement mechanisms is key to making them matter for policymaking. 

This report shows that the WISE framework is a useful way of synthesising the multitude of Beyond-GDP metrics, which could be very important in the various UN and EC processes currently underway. 

Find out more about the WISE Horizons project here.