Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vpsfw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-21T02:40:32.828Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Wellbeing economics in public policy: A distinctive Australasian contribution?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Paul Dalziel
Paul Dalziel*
Affiliation:
Lincoln University, New Zealand
*
Paul Dalziel, Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit, Lincoln University, PO Box 84, Lincoln University Post Office, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand. Email: paul.dalziel@lincoln.ac.nz
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The ‘Wellbeing Budget’ presented to the New Zealand Parliament in 2019 was widely described as a world-first. This article explores the possibility of a distinctive Australasian contribution to our understanding of wellbeing economics in public policy. The introduction section presents an analytical wellbeing framework showing how human actions draw on services provided by the country’s capital stocks to create and sustain personal and communal wellbeing. The second section chronicles some landmark policy initiatives in Australia and New Zealand for understanding and monitoring wellbeing, culminating in the Wellbeing Budget. The third section highlights four areas for further development: (1) the role of family wellbeing in intergenerational wellbeing, (2) the role of cultural capital in providing foundations for future wellbeing, (3) the role of Indigenous worldviews in enriching understandings of wellbeing and (4) the role of market enterprise in expanding capabilities for wellbeing. These are all areas where Australasian researchers have demonstrated expertise.

Keywords

I31I38B54AustraliacapabilitiesNew Zealandwellbeingwellbeing budget
Type
Original Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 30 , Issue 4: Brexit Wellbeing and Safety , December 2019 , pp. 478 - 497
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abelson, P (2019) Teaching public economics with special reference to Australian and US cultures. Australian Economic Review 52: 279–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, M, Mossialos, E (2019) Beyond gross domestic product for New Zealand’s wellbeing budget. The Lancet: Public Health 4(7): e320–e321.Google ScholarPubMed
Apps, P, Rees, R (2018) Optimal family taxation and income inequality. International Tax and Income Inequality 25(5): 1093–1128.Google Scholar
Austen, S, Jefferson, T (2019) Crossing the great divide: Ostrom’s coproduction and the economics of aged care. Feminist Economics 25(3): 48–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (1994) How Australians use their time. ABS Catalogue no. 4153.0. Canberra, ACT, Australia: ABS.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2002) Measuring Australia’s progress. ABS Catalogue No. 1370.0. Canberra, ACT, Australia: ABS.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2010) Framework for measuring wellbeing: aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, 2010. ABS Catalogue No. 4703.0. Canberra, ACT, Australia: ABS.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2014) Measures of Australia’s progress, 2013. ABS Catalogue No. 1370.0. Canberra, ACT, Australia: ABS.Google Scholar
Australian Treasury (2004) Policy advice and treasury’s wellbeing framework. Economic Roundup, Winter, pp. 1–20. Available at: https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-03/Policy_advice_Treasury_wellbeing_framework.pdf (accessed 26 September 2019).Google Scholar
Australian Treasury (2013) Annual Report 2012–13. Canberra, ACT, Australia: The Treasury.Google Scholar
Biddle, N, Swee, H (2012) The relationship between wellbeing and indigenous land, language and culture in Australia. Australian Geographer 43(3): 215–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bittman, M (1999) Parenthood without penalty: time use and public policy in Australia and Finland. Feminist Economics 5(3): 27–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bittman, M, Ironmonger, D (2011) Valuing time: a conference overview. Social Indicators Research 101(2): 173–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bittman, M, England, P, Sayer, L, et al. (2003) When does gender trump money? Bargaining and time in household work. American Journal of Sociology 109(1): 186–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bjørnholt, M, McKay, A (eds) (2013) Counting on Marilyn Waring: New Advances in Feminist Economics. Bradford: Demeter Press.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, P (1983) Ökonomisches kapital, kulturelles kapital, soziales kapital. In: Kreckel, R (ed.) Soziale Ungleichheiten (Soziale Welt, Sonderheft 2). Goettingen: Otto Schartz, pp. 183–198 (Translated as The forms of capital. In: Richardson, JC (ed.) (1986) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, pp. 241–258).Google Scholar
Buchanan, J, Jakubauskas, M (2010) The political economy of work and skill in Australia: insights from recent applied research. In: Bryson, J (ed.) Beyond Skill. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 32–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchanan, J, Anderson, P, Power, G (2017) Skill ecosystems. In: Buchanan, J, Finegold, D, Mayhew, K, et al. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Skills and Training. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 444–465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, I, Price, R (2016) Precarious work and precarious workers: Towards an improved conceptualisation. The Economic and Labour Relations Review 27(3): 314–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carver, T, Grimes, A (2019) Income or consumption: which better predicts subjective well-being? Review of Income and Wealth. Epub ahead of print 11 March 2019. DOI: 10.1111/roiw.12414CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chesters, J, Cuervo, H (2019) Adjusting to new employment landscapes: consequences of precarious employment for young Australians. The Economic and Labour Relations Review 30(2): 222–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clibborn, S, Wright, CF (2018) Employer theft of temporary migrant workers’ wages in Australia: why has the state failed to act? The Economic and Labour Relations Review 29(2): 207–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooney, R, Jerrard, M, Donohue, R, et al. (2010) Exploring skill ecosystems in the Australian meat processing industry: unions, employers and institutional change. The Economic and Labour Relations Review 21(2): 121–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costanza, R, d’Arge, R, de Groot, R, et al. (1997) The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387: 253–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, L (2006) Parental education, time in paid work and time with children: an Australian time-diary analysis. British Journal of Sociology 57(4): 553–575.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Craig, L (2007) Contemporary Motherhood: The Impact of Children on Adult Time. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.Google Scholar
Craig, L, Powell, A, Smyth, C (2014) Towards intensive parenting? Changes in the composition and determinants of mothers and fathers’ time with children 1992–2006. British Journal of Sociology 65(3): 555–579.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crawley, L, Pulotu-Endemann, FK, Stanley-Findlay, RTU (1995) Strategic Directions for the Mental Health Services for Pacific Islands People. Wellington, NZ: Ministry of Health.Google Scholar
Dalziel, P (2019) The importance of cultural capital in expanding personal and national wellbeing. Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies 35: 329–341.Google Scholar
Dalziel, P, Saunders, C (2019) Gendered innovation in economics: Marilyn Waring’s approach to social science research. Women’s Studies International Forum 72: 137–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dalziel, P, Matunga, H, Saunders, C (2006) Cultural well-being and local government: lessons from New Zealand. Australasian Journal of Regional Studies 12(3): 267–280.Google Scholar
Dalziel, P, Saunders, C, Saunders, J (2018) Wellbeing Economics: The Capabilities Approach to Prosperity. London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dalziel, P, Saunders, C, Savage, C (2019) Culture, wellbeing, and the living standards framework. AERU research report no. 353, Prepared for the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the Treasury. Lincoln, NZ: Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit, Lincoln University.Google Scholar
Dalziel, P, Saunders, C, Tait, P, et al. (2018) Rewarding responsible innovation when consumers are distant from producers: evidence from New Zealand. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 21(4): 487–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Bruin, A (1999) Towards extending the concept of human capital: a note on cultural capital. Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics 10(1): 59–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dockery, AM (2010) Culture and wellbeing: the case of Indigenous Australians. Social Indicators Research 99(2): 315–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Durie, M (1998) Whaiora Māori Health Development. 2nd edn. Auckland, NZ: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Durie, M (1999) Te pae māhutonga: a model for Māori health promotion. Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand Newsletter 49: 2–5.Google Scholar
Exton, C, Shinwell, M (2018) Policy use of well-being metrics: describing countries’ experiences. Statistics and Data Directorate working paper no. 94. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
Federal Government of Germany (2017) Government Report on Wellbeing in Germany. Berlin: Federal Press Office. Available at: https://www.gut-leben-in-deutschland.de/static/LB/about (accessed 30 July 2018).Google Scholar
Folbre, N, Bittman, M (eds) (2004) Family Time: The Social Organization of Care. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ginsburgh, VA, Throsby, D (2013) Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, vol. 2. Amsterdam: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Gleeson-White, J (2014) Six Capitals: The Revolution Capitalism Has to Have – or Can Accountants Save the Planet? Sydney, NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Gleisner, B, Llewellyn-Fowler, M, McAlister, F (2011) Working towards higher living standards for New Zealanders. Treasury working paper 11/02. Wellington, NZ: The Treasury.Google Scholar
Gleisner, B, McAlister, F, Galt, M, et al. (2012) A living standards approach to public policy making. New Zealand Economic Papers 46(3): 211–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gorecki, S, Kelly, J (2012) Treasury’s wellbeing framework. Economic Roundup, pp. 27–64. Available at: https://treasury.gov.au/publication/economic-roundup-issue-3-2012-2/economic-roundup-issue-3-2012/treasurys-wellbeing-framework (accessed 26 September 2019).Google Scholar
Grace, M (2001) Motherhood: economic exploitation in disguise. Just Policy 21: 46–53.Google Scholar
Grace, M (2006) A 21st century feminist agenda for valuing care-work. Journal of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement 8(1–2): 311–322.Google Scholar
Grace, M, Craig, L (2013) Creating conceptual tools for change: Marilyn Waring’s influence in Australia. In: Bjørnholt, M, McKay, A (eds) Counting on Marilyn Waring: New Advances in Feminist Economics. Bradford: Demeter Press, 211–227.Google Scholar
Grattan Institute (2010) Wellbeing in Public Policy (Transcript of a podcast involving Henry, K, Henry, D, Van Halderen, G, moderated by Daley, J ). Canberra, ACT, Australia: Grattan Institute.Google Scholar
Gray, M, Howlett, M, Hunter, B (2014) Labour market outcomes for Indigenous Australians. Economic and Labour Relations Review 25(3): 497–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grimes, A, Oxley, L, Tarrant, N (2014) Does money buy me love? Testing alternative measures of national wellbeing. In: McDaid, D, Cooper, C (eds) Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide. Volume 5: The Economics of Wellbeing. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Halevi, J, Harcourt, GC, Kriesler, P, et al. (2016) Post-keynesian Essays from Down Under, vols I to IV. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Hall, R, Lansbury, R (2006) Skills in Australia: towards workforce development and sustainable skill ecosystems. Journal of Industrial Relations 48(5): 575–592.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hampson, I, Junor, A (2015) Stages of the social construction of skill: revisiting debates over service skill recognition. Sociology Compass 9(6): 450–463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, K (2006) Wellbeing and public policy. In: Population wellbeing data gaps workshop, Canberra, ACT, Australia, 8 June 2006.Google Scholar
Hill, T (2009) Time use, gender and disadvantage in Australia: conventional income and ‘full income’ approaches to estimation. The Economic and Labour Relations Review 20(1): 13–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2014) Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Geneva: IPCC.Google Scholar
Ironmonger, D (1996) Counting outputs, capital input and caring labour: estimating gross household product. Feminist Economics 2(3): 37–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ironmonger, D (2004) Bringing up Betty and Bobby: the macro time dimensions of investment in the care and nurture of children. In: Folbre, N, Bittman, M (eds) Family Time: The Social Organization of Care. London: Routledge, pp. 93–109.Google Scholar
Junor, A, Hampson, I, Ogle, KR (2009) Vocabularies of skills: the case of care and support workers. In: Bolton, SC, Houlihan, M (eds) Work Matters. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 197–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, A, Huseynli, G, MacGibbon, G (2018) Wellbeing frameworks for the Treasury. Discussion paper 18/01. Wellington, NZ: The Treasury.Google Scholar
Lewchuk, W (2017) Precarious jobs: where are they, and how do they affect well-being. The Economic and Labour Relations Review 28(3): 402–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macdonald, F, Bentham, E, Malone, J (2018) Wage theft, underpayment and unpaid work in marketised social care. The Economic and Labour Relations Review 29(1): 80–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McIntyre, T, Wilson, MMJ, Saunders, C, et al. (2019) Governing value creation and capture in New Zealand agribusiness value chains: A case study. Research report no. 355. Lincoln, NZ: Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit, Lincoln University.Google Scholar
Mackenzie, C, Stoljar, N (eds) (2000) Relational Autonomy: Feminist Perspectives on Autonomy, Agency, and the Social Self. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
McMillan, J (2002) Reinventing the Bazaar: A Natural History of Markets. New York: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
Millmow, A (2017) A History of Australasian Economic Thought. Abingdon: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, B, Satherley, P (2000) New Zealand time use survey 1999. Key Statistics, April, pp. 7–9. Available at: http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/people_and_communities/time_use/nz-time-use-survey-1999.aspx (accessed 26 September 2019).Google Scholar
New Zealand Treasury (2015) An Introduction to Using the Living Standards Framework. Wellington, NZ: The Treasury.Google Scholar
New Zealand Treasury (2018) Living Standards Framework: Background and Future Work. Wellington, NZ: The Treasury.Google Scholar
O’Connell, E, Greenaway, T, Moeke, T, et al. (2018) He Ara Waiora/a Pathway Towards Wellbeing: Exploring Te Ao Māori Perspectives on the Living Standards Framework for the Tax Working Group. New Zealand Treasury discussion paper 18/11. Wellington, NZ: The Treasury.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD) (2017) How’s Life? 2017: Measuring Well-being. Paris: OECD Publishing.Google Scholar
Pocock, B (2016) Holding up half the sky? Women at work in the 21st century. The Economic and Labour Relations Review 27(2): 147–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prout, S (2012) Indigenous wellbeing frameworks in Australia and the quest for quantification. Social Indicators Research 109(2): 317–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, G (2019) The Wellbeing Budget. Wellington, NZ: New Zealand Government.Google Scholar
Romer, PM (2019) Prize lecture. Available at: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2018/romer/lecture/ (accessed 12 July 2019).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saunders, C (2019) Sustainable agriculture – life beyond subsidies: lessons from New Zealand. Journal of Agricultural Economics 70(3): 579–594.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saunders, C, Dalziel, P (2017) 25 years of counting for nothing: Waring’s critique of national accounts. Feminist Economics 23(2): 200–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sen, AK (1999) Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, A (1776) An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell.Google Scholar
Smith, E, Smith, A, Hampson, I, et al. (2015) How closely do Australian Training Package qualifications reflect the skills in occupations? An empirical investigation of seven qualifications. International Journal of Training Research 13(1): 49–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, JP (2004) Mothers’ milk and markets. Australian Feminist Studies 19(45): 369–379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, JP, Forrester, R (2013) Who pays for the health benefits of exclusive breastfeeding? An analysis of maternal time costs. Journal of Human Lactation 29(4): 547–555.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, JP, Ingham, LH (2005) Mothers’ milk and measures of economic output. Feminist Economics 11(1): 41–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solow, RM (1956) A contribution to the theory of economic growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics 70(1): 65–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanford, J (2017) The resurgence of gig work: historical and theoretical perspectives. The Economic and Labour Relations Review 28(3): 382–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Statistics New Zealand (2002) Monitoring Progress Towards a Sustainable New Zealand. Wellington, NZ: Statistics New Zealand.Google Scholar
Statistics New Zealand (2009) Measuring New Zealand’s Progress Using A Sustainable Development Approach: 2008. Wellington, NZ: Statistics New Zealand.Google Scholar
Statistics New Zealand (2014a) Guide to Using Te Arotahi Tatauranga. Wellington, NZ: Statistics New Zealand.Google Scholar
Statistics New Zealand (2014b) Te Kupenga 2013. Wellington, NZ: Statistics New Zealand.Google Scholar
Stiglitz, J, Sen, A, Fitoussi, J-P (2009) Report by the commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress. Available at: https://www.insee.fr/en/information/2662494 (accessed 1 July 2019).Google Scholar
Swan, TW (1956) Economic growth and capital accumulation. Economic Record 32(2): 334–361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tait, P, Saunders, C, Dalziel, P, et al. (2019) Estimating wine consumer preferences for sustainability attributes: a discrete choice experiment of Californian Sauvignon blanc purchasers. Journal of Cleaner Production 233: 412–420.Google Scholar
Tamasese, K, Peteru, C, Waldegrave, C, et al. (2005) Ole taeao afua, the new morning: a qualitative investigation into Samoan perspectives on mental health and culturally appropriate services. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 39(4): 300–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, J (2008) Indigenous peoples and indicators of well-being: Australian perspectives on United Nations global frameworks. Social Indicators Research 87(1): 111–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Te Puni Kōkiri (2016) The Whānau Ora Outcomes Framework: Empowering Whānau into the Future. Te Puni Kōkiri. Available at: https://www.tpk.govt.nz/docs/tpk-wo-outcomesframework-aug2016.pdf (accessed 11 September 2019).Google Scholar
Te Puni Kōkiri and the Treasury (2019) An indigenous approach to the living standards framework. New Zealand Treasury discussion paper 19/01. Wellington, NZ: The Treasury.Google Scholar
Teece, DJ (2019) A capability theory of the firm: an economics and (strategic) management perspective. New Zealand Economic Papers 53(1): 1–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomsen, S, Tavita, J, Levi-Teu, Z (2018) A pacific perspective on the living standards framework and wellbeing. New Zealand Treasury discussion paper 18/09. Wellington, NZ: The Treasury.Google Scholar
Throsby, D (1994) The production and consumption of the arts: a view of cultural economics. Journal of Economic Literature 32(1): 1–29.Google Scholar
Throsby, D (1999) Cultural capital. Journal of Cultural Economics 23(1): 3–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Throsby, D (2001) Economics and Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Throsby, D (2010) The Economics of Cultural Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Throsby, D, Petetskaya, E (2016) Sustainability concepts in Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures. International Journal of Cultural Property 23(2): 119–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trienekens, J, van Velzen, M, Lees, N, et al. (2017) Governance of market-oriented fresh food value chains: export chains from New Zealand. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 21(2): 249–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United Nations (2009) System of National Accounts 2008. New York: United Nations and Others.Google Scholar
Waring, M (1988) If Women Counted: A New Feminist Economics. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row (Also published as Counting for Nothing: What Men Value and What Women are Worth. Wellington, NZ: Allen & Unwin/Port Nicholson Press).Google Scholar
Waring, M (2018) Still Counting: Wellbeing, Women’s Work and Policy-making. Wellington, NZ: Bridget Williams Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yap, M, Yu, E (2016) Operationalising the capability approach: developing culturally relevant indicators of Indigenous wellbeing – an Australian example. Oxford Development Studies 44(3): 315–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar