Economist to advise EU on measuring quality of life

May 10, 2011

Waikato University economist to advise European Union on measuring quality of life

A leading economist at the University of Waikato has been appointed to an international panel of experts advising the European Union’s Regional Policy Directorate on how to measure the effect of cohesion policies from 2013.

Professor Riccardo Scarpa is an international leader in the field of non-market valuation, and his models are used by many global organisations, including the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

In his work for the EU, Professor Scarpa will prepare guidelines on how to use quantitative surveys to measure the impact of these policies on quality of life.

The measurement approaches will cover a range of non-economic aspects such as happiness, social values and what he calls “the universal currency”, time.

“This is probably the most significant change in policy since the EU was established,” he says. “For the first time, the EU is going to ask member countries to document their spending in terms of measurable outcomes in quality of life.”

“We will be looking at ways to measure happiness, which may not be related to economic growth, and we will look at social values such as volunteering and giving back to the community. The other important thing is time: we can measure reductions in travel time, waiting times, the impact of people working from home.”

All being well, he says, these new measurement approaches will be introduced in 2013.

It’s an enormous task, he says. “To set things in context, the Regional Policy Directorate has a yearly budget that is larger than New Zealand’s GDP.”

Professor Scarpa will be working alongside Waikato’s Adjunct Professor Philip McCann, who is one of two special advisors to Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy.

ENDS

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