Gross domestic product: Are other measures needed?

Barbara M. Fraumeni
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Barbara M. Fraumeni: Central University of Finance and Economics, China, NBER, USA, and IZA, Germany

IZA World of Labor, 2022, No 368v2, 368

Abstract: Gross domestic product (GDP) is the key indicator of the health of an economy and can be easily compared across countries. But it has limitations. GDP tells what is going on today, but does not inform about sustainability of growth. The majority of time is spent in home production, yet the value of this time is not included in GDP. GDP does not measure happiness, so residents can be dissatisfied even when GDP is rising. In addition, GDP does not consider environmental factors, reflect what individuals do outside paid employment, or even measure the current or future potential human capital of a country. Hence, complementary measures may help to show a more comprehensive picture of an economy.

Keywords: GDP; macroeconomic measures; national income accounting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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