An Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare for Scotland, 1980-1991

This paper presents the methods and results of applying an 'Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare' (ISEW) for Scotland, 1980-1991. Several measures of economic welfare are described and this leads into a description of the ISEW as used in the USA and the UK. The methods and data sources for developing an ISEW for Scotland are then presented. The results indicate a widening gap between the ISEW and the more conventional measures of economic welfare. It is also shown that there is a high level of correlation between the ISEW and some of the contributing variables. Some methodological implications are discussed.

Keywords:

• economic welfare
• sustainability
• index
• redundancy
• sensitivity
• Scotland