Global Handbook of Quality of Life: Exploration of Well-Being of Nations and Continents [Paperback]

This handbook provides a comprehensive historical account of the field of Quality of Life. It brings together theoretical insights and empirical findings and presents the main items of global quality of life and wellbeing research. Worldwide in its scope of topics, the handbook examines discussions of demographic and health development, the spread of democracy, global economic accounting, multi-item measurement of perceived satisfaction and expert-assessed quality of life and the well-being of children, women and poor people. It looks at well-being in specific regions, including North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, South America and Eastern and Western Europe. In addition to contributions by leading and younger authors, the handbook includes contributions from International Organizations about their own work with respect to social reporting.

Foreword; Alex C. Michalos and Wolfgang Zapf.- Chapter 1. Monitoring and Analyzing Global Quality of Life: An Introdution.- Part I. Long Term Trends of World Social Development: Health, Wealth, Democracy.- Chapter 2. Demographic and Health Development in the Long Run; Frank Swiaczny.- Chapter 3. Living Standards in a Modernizing World: A Long Run Perspective on Material Well-Being and Human Development; Herman de Jong.- Chapter 4. Wars and Violence through the Centuries; Mathias Boes and Hinrich Rosenbrock.- Chapter 5. The Worldwide Spread of Democracy; Robert K. Schaeffer.- Part II. Monitoring Global Well-Being: Objective and Subjective Measurement: Objective Approaches.- Chapter 6. Global Economic Accounting and its Critics; J?rgen Faik.- Chapter 7. The human Development Index; Kenneth C. Land.- Chapter 8. The Index of Social Progress; Richard J. Estes.- Part II. Monitoring Global Well-Being: Objective and Subjective Measurement: Subjective Approaches.- Chapter 9. The Overall Satisfaction with Life; Ruut Veenhoven.- Chapter 10. Multi-Item Measurement of Subjective Well-Being; Robert A. Cummins and Mel£”