Economic indicators such as per capita GNP have persisted as the principal means of evaluating the development plans as well as the policy achievements of Third World countries. There has been, however, an increasing awareness that these measures are inadequate to assess the negative spillover effects of economic growth and are an inaccurate indicator of the true purpose of national development: enhancing human well-being. This article proposes an alternative measure, which will permit a comprehensive and balanced assessment of the relationship between economic growth and the other principal domains which constitute the quality of life. We analyze the quality of life in Korea (1963-1979) in terms of physical, social, and personal development. Results show that the physical dimension of life in the 1960s and 1970s was greatly enhanced by Korea's well-known economic growth; but during this same period the domains of social and personal development deteriorated. As a result, the overall improvement in the quality of life has been substantially less than inferred by assessments that heretofore have been based on economic indicators alone.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ADELMAN, I. and S. ROBINSON (1978) Income Distribution Policy in Developing Countries. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press.
2.
ADELMAN, Z. and C. MORRIS (1973) Economic Growth and Social Equity in Developing Countries. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press.
3.
ADLER, C. P. (1975) Existence, Relatedness and Growth. New York: Free Press.
4.
ADLER, C. P. (1969) “An empirical test of a new theory of human needs. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance4: 142-175.
5.
ALLARDT, E. (1975) Dimensions of Welfare in a Comparative Scandinavian Study. Helsinki: Univ. of Helsinki Press.
6.
ANDREWS, F. and S. WITHEY (1976) Social Indicators of Well-Being. New York: Plenum.
7.
BAIR, K. (1974) “Towards a definition of `quality of life',” pp. 58-81 in R. Clarke and P. Liste (eds.) Environmental Spectrum. New York: Van Nostrand.
8.
BARNETT, H. (1974) “Economic growth and environmental quality,” in R. Clarke and P. Liste (eds.) Environmental Spectrum. New York: Van Nostrand.
9.
BECKERMAN, W. (1978) Measures of Leisure, Equality and Welfare. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
10.
BECKERMAN, W. (1974) In Defense of Economic Growth. London: Trinity.
11.
BEITZ, C. R. (1981) “Economic rights and distributive justice in developing societies.”World Politics33 (April): 321-346.
12.
BERTSCH, G. K. (1982) “Comparative analysis: economic well-being and the global human condition,” in G. K. Bertsch (ed.) Global Policy Studies. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
13.
BONHAM, J. (1974) “A note on a metropolitan area economic index: a diffusion of index approach.”J. of Regional Studies15 (April): 73-80.
14.
CAMPBELL, A. (1980) The Sense of Well-Being in America. New York: McGraw-Hill.
15.
CAMPBELL, A.P. CONVERSE , and W. RODGERS (1976) The Quality of American Life. New York: Russell Sage.
16.
CANTRIL, H. (1965) The Patterns of Human Concerns. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ. Press.
17.
CAPORASO, J. A. (1982) “The state's role in third world economic growth.”Annals of the Amer. Academy of Pol. and Social Sci.459 (January): 103-122.
18.
CAPORASO, J. A. (1981) “Industrialization in the periphery: the evolving global division of labor.”Int. Studies Q.25 (Spring): 347-386.
19.
COLE, G. and P. LYMAN (1971) Korea Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
20.
DANNHAUSER, W. J. (1976) “What constitutes `quality of life?' ” pp. 53-80 in Commission on Critical Choices in America (ed.) Qualities of Life. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.
21.
DAVIS, J. A. (1975) “Does economic growth improve the human lot? Yes indeed, about 0.0005 per year.” Presented at the International Conference on Subjective Indicators of Quality of Life, Cambridge, England, September 8-11.
22.
DENISON, E. F. (1971) “Welfare measurement and the GNP,”Survey of Current Business51 (January): 1-9.
23.
DREWNOWSKI, J. (1974) On Measuring and Planning the Quality of Life. The Hague: Mouton.
24.
DREWNOWSKI, J. (1972) “Social indicators and welfare measurement: remarks on methodology. J. of Development Studies8 (April): 25-33.
25.
EASTERLINE, R. A. , (1974) “Does economic growth improve the human lot?” in P. A. David and M. W. Reder, (eds.) Nations and Households in Economic Growth. New York: Academic.
26.
Economic Council of Japan (1973) Measuring Net National Welfare of Japan. Tokyo: Author.
27.
ETZIONI, A. (1968a) “Basic human needs, alienation and inauthenticity.”Amer. Soc. Rev.33 (December): 870-885.
28.
ETZIONI, A. (1968b) The Active Society: A Theory of Societal and Political Process. New York: Free Press.
29.
FOX, K. (1974) Social Indicators and Social Theory. New York: John Wiley.
30.
FROMM, E. (1976) To Have or To Be. New York: Harper & Row.
31.
GALTUNG, J. (1976) Measuring World Development. Oslo: Univ. of Oslo Press.
32.
GERSON, E. (1976) “On `quality of life,' ”Amer. Soc. Rev.41 (October): 793-806.
33.
GOULET, D. (1975) The Cruel Choice: A New Concept in the Theory of Development. New York: Atheneum.
34.
GROSS, B. (1974) “Destructive decision-making in developing countries.”Policy Sciences5 (June): 224-245.
35.
HEILBRONER, R. (1974) An Inquiry into the Human Prospect. New York: Norton.
36.
HICKS, N. and P. STREETEN (1979) “Indicators of development: the search for a basic needs yardstick.”World Development7: 567-580.
37.
HIRSCH, F. (1976) Social Limits to Growth. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ., Press.
38.
INGLEHART, R. (1979) The Silent Revolution. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
39.
JUSTER, T. F. (1982) “Conceptualizing and measuring the generation and distribution of well-being.” Presented at the 10th World Congress of Sociology, Mexico City.
40.
KNUDSON, J. (1972) The Human Basis of the Polity. Chicago: Aldine.
41.
LARSON, D. and W. WILFRED (1979) “The quality of life and per capita income in the United States.”Rev. of Social Economy37 (April): 111-119.
42.
LAWLER, E. E. and J. L. SUTTLE (1972) “A causal correlational test of the need hierarchy concept.”Organizational Behavior and Human Performance7 (April): 265-287.
43.
LEKACHMAN, R. (1971) “Humanizing GNP,”Social Policy2 (September): 34-39.
44.
LIU, B. (1980) “Economic growth and quality of life: a comparative indicator analysis between China (Taiwan), U.S.A. and other developed countries.”American J. of Economics and Sociology39 (January): 1-21.
45.
LIU, B. (1975) “Quality of life: concept, measure and results.”Amer. J. of Economics and Sociology34 (January): 1-21.
46.
McCALL, S. (1975) “Quality of life.”Social Indicators Research2 (September): 229-248.
47.
McINTOSH, W. , T. E. KLONGLAN, and L. V. WILCOX (1977) “Theoretical issues and social indicators: a societal process approach.”Policy Sciences8 (September): 245-268.
48.
MARKLEY, O. and M. BOGLEY (1975) Minimum Standards for Quality of Life. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
49.
MASLOW, H. (1970) Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper & Row.
50.
MASON, E. S. , M. J. KIM, D. H. PERKINS, K. S. KIM, and D. C. COLE (1980) The Economic and Social Modernization of the Republic of Korea. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
51.
MILBRATH, L. (1979) “Policy relevant quality of life research.”Annals of the Amer. Academy of Pol. and Social Sci.444 (July): 32-45.
52.
MISHAN, E. (1960) The Costs of Economic Growth. New York: Praeger.
53.
MONTAGUM, F. (1955) The Direction of Human Development. New York: Harper & Row.
54.
MOORE, G., Jr. (1954) “Analyzing business cycle.”Amer. Statistician8: 13-19.
55.
MORGENSTERN, O. (1975) “Does GNP measure growth and welfare?”Business and Society Rev.19 (Fall): 23-31.
56.
MORRIS, D. (1979) Measuring the Conditions of the World's Poor. New York: Pergamon.
57.
NG, Y. K. (1980) “Money and happiness: first lesson in Eudaimonology?”Kyklos33: 161-163.
58.
NORDHAUS, W. (1972) “World dynamics: measurement without data.”Econ. J.83 (December): 1156-1183.
59.
NORDHAUS, W. and J. TOBIN (1972) Is Growth Obsolete?New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.
60.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (1976) Measuring Social Well-Being. Paris: Author.
61.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (1973) List of Social Concerns. Paris: Author.
62.
OVERHOLD, W. H. and H. KAHN (1976) “Perceptions of quality of life: some effects of social strata and social change,” pp. 135-162 in Commission on Critical Choices in Americans (ed.) Qualities of Life. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.
63.
PEARCE-BATTEN, A. (1980) “New measures of development.”Development Digest10: 75-76.
64.
PENNOCK, J. and J. W. CHAPMAN (1977) Human Nature in Politics. New York: New York Univ. Press.
65.
Republic of Korea, Economic Planning Board (1981a) Social Indicators of Korea, 1981. Seoul: Author.
66.
Republic of Korea, Economic Planning Board (1981b) Major Statistics of Korean Economy. Seoul: Author.
67.
RESCHER, N. (1972) Welfare: Social Issues in Philosophical Perspective. Pittsburgh: Univ. of Pittsburgh Press.
68.
RUGGERI, G. and C. JECCHINIS (1974) “Economic growth and living standards in America.”Rev. of Social Economy32 (October): 148-161.
69.
SAMETZ, A. A. (1968) “Production of goods and services: the measurement of economic growth,” in E. Sheldon and W. Moore (eds.) Indicators of Social Change. New York: Russell Sage.
70.
SHARKANSKY, I. (1975) The United States: A Study of a Developing Country. New York: David McKay.
71.
SHIN, D. C. (1979) “The concept of quality of life and the evaluation of development effort: some applications to South Korea.”Comparative Politics11 (April): 299-318.
72.
SHIN, D. C.H. LEE , and K. KIM (1982) “Perceptions of quality of life in an industrializing country: the case of South Korea.”Social Indicators Research10 (April): 297-318.
73.
SMITH, D. M. (1973) The Geography of Social Well-Being in the United States. New York: McGraw-Hill.
74.
STOCKDALE, J. (1973) “A perspective on poverty and quality of life.”Growth and Change4 (October): 24-28.
75.
STRUMPEL, B. [ed.] (1976) Economic Means for Human Needs. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press.
76.
TERLECKYJ, N. (1975) Improvements in the Quality of Life: Estimates of Possibilities in the United States, 1974-83. Washington, DC: National Planning Agency.
77.
U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (1975) Toward a System of Social and Demographic Statistics. New York: Author.
78.
U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1970) Toward a Social Report. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press.
79.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1975) Quality of Life Concept: A Potential New Tool for Decision-Making. Washington, DC: Author.
80.
U.S. Office of Management and Budget (1978) Social Indicators 1977. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
81.
Von WRIGHT, G. (1972) The Varieties of Goodness. Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
82.
WADE, L. L. and B. S. KIM (1978) Economic Development of South Korea. New York: Praeger.
83.
WAGAR, J. A. (1970) “Growth versus the quality of life.”Science167 (June): 1179-1184.
84.
WAHBA, J. and L. BRIDWELL (1976) “Maslow reconsidered: a review of research on the hierarchy theory.”Organization Behavior and Human Performance15 (April): 212-240.
85.
WINGO, L. (1973) “The quality of life: toward a micro-economic definition.”Urban Studies10: 3-18.
86.
ZAPF, W. (1979) “Modernization and welfare development: the case Germany.”Social Sci. Information18: 219-246.
87.
ZAPF, W. (1974) “The policy as a monitor of the quality of life.”Amer. Behavioral Scientist20 (May/June): 57-67.
88.
ZEHNER, R. B. (1977) Indicators of the Quality of Life in New Communities. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
89.
ZOLOTAS, X. (1981) Economic Growth and Declining Social Welfare. New York: New York Univ. Press.
