This document provides an overview of an e-Frame handbook on measuring societal progress beyond GDP. It discusses the structure and contents of the handbook, which will include an introduction to well-being indicators in policy design, thematic topics on domains like wealth, income, the environment, and methodologies/tools. It will also provide examples of policy-integrated frameworks that put well-being at the core of policymaking and discuss challenges. The handbook template outlines why each topic is important, relevant measures to consider, how to use them, and examples to date.

1. e-Frame handbook:
Map for policy use of progress indicators
Brainpool Final Conference
Paris, 24-25 March 2014
Tommaso Rondinella (ISTAT)
Romina Boarini (OECD)

2. Template for methods and tools
1.Why it is important
2. Which initiatives/ tools/ references must be considered
3. How to implement/ exploit them
4. Best practices/ recommendations/ future developments
References
The format
e-Frame Handbook on Measuring Progress
Template for thematic topics
1.Why it is important
2. Which measures must be considered
3. How to use them
4. Uses to date
References

3. What you can expect from a “Map of policy use”
Step forward towards the actual use of progress indicators in policy
making.
This frontier has not been reached uniformly for all relevant topics and
methodologies.
State of the art:
A. Measures which are not yet fully developed
B. Measures currently produced within the Official statistics but often
ignored in policy making
C. Good practices of policy making which already moved “Beyond
GDP”
e-Frame Handbook on Measuring Progress

4. The structure
Introduction: Introducing well-being indicators in policy design
A. Measuring well-being and societal progress
Thematic topics (Wealth, income, subjective well-being, labour market,
human capital, globalization, environment….)
B. Methodologies and tools
Cross-cutting topics (Composite indicators, Indicators legitimacy and
stakeholders inclusion , measuring WB at local level, dissemination and
sharing information,…)
C. Towards an integrated policy framework for better lives
Policy-integrated frameworks for well-being: putting well-being at the
core of policy-making, Examples and Challenges
e-Frame Handbook on Measuring Progress

5. Material conditions: Households’ Net Adjusted Disposable Income and
Actual Final Consumption are preferred National Accounts’ measures.
Poverty and inequality, vulnerability, unemployment, transfers in kind and
time use must be part of material consumption assessment.
Presents experiences “adjusting GDP”, “replacing GDP” or
“supplementing GDP”
Worker Welfare and Labour Markets: Richer people will systematically
choose better conditions and accept a negative compensating wage
differential (CWD), that is, a lower wage given their human capital. Poorer
people will do the opposite. Differences in wages will then understate
differences in welfare, and we need to go beyond wages.
Prospects: job security, career progression, contract quality
Intrinsic job quality: discretion, social environment, physical environment,
work intensity
Working time quality: including work duration and short-term flexibility
Examples of Thematic topics
e-Frame Handbook on Measuring Progress

6. A policy-integrated framework for well-being
• Rationale: well-being is multidimensional, therefore we need
to have a policy tool that explicitly factors in the various well-
being components and how they vary together
• Value added: integration enhances policies Alignment, their
Analysis as well as their Accountability
• How does it work: well-being indicators may inform many
stages of the policy-making process
A policy-integrated framework for well-being

7. Rationale
• OECD and well-being: moving from silos to a
multidimensional policy setting [ex: the OECD Inclusive
Growth approach]
• Factors in unexpected consequences of policies
• Identifies policy synergies and trade-offs
A policy-integrated framework for well-being

8. • Alignment: setting a multidimensional policy objective
function -> requires a tool that explicitly models the
relationships between outcomes and their policy drivers
• Analysis: better understanding of what drives “the machine”
(e.g. the importance of trust for economic growth and
inclusiveness); a more thorough assessment of policy impact
• Accountability: the framework needs explicit information on
“people’s preferences” and well-being “production
technology” -> the combination of these trade-offs can be the
object of public debate and scrutiny
Value added
A policy-integrated framework for well-being

9. Well-being indicators can be used at many points of the policy cycle:
– Set the strategy:
• Inform priorities setting
• Identify the best policy package to achieve more than one
objectives at a time
– Help evaluating policy:
• Ex ante appraisal of policies
• Ex post impact assessment
How does it work?
A policy-integrated framework for well-being