Measuring longevity achievements under welfare interdependencies: a case for joint life expectancy indicators

• Published in: Social indicators research Vol. 84; no. 2; pp. 203 - 230
• Main Author: Ponthiere, Gregory
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer 01.11.2007; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Age; Coexistence; Death; Economic Development; Economic indices; Error of Measurement; Gross domestic product indices; Helping Relationship; History, theory and methodology; Human Development Index; Human subjects; Indexes; International; International cooperation; Life expectancy; Life Style; Living Standards; Longevity; Measurement Objectives; Measurement Techniques; Men; Methodology; Mortality Rate; Peer Acceptance; Probabilities; Probability; Quality of Life; Social Characteristics; Social Environment; Social Indicators; Sociology; Standard of living; Studies; Survival; Welfare; Well Being; Wellbeing; Measurement; Well-being; Crossnational Comparisons; Longevity; Life Expectancy
• ISSN: 0303-8300; 1573-0921
• DOI: 10.1007/s11205-007-9099-1

Whereas period life expectancy constitutes an intuitive indicator of the survival conditions prevailing at a particular period, this paper argues that, given the existence of welfare interdependencies, that widespread indicator is nonetheless an incomplete measure of the longevity achievements relevant for human well-being. The central importance of coexistence for human-beings implies that usual life expectancy measures should be complemented by joint life expectancy indicators, which measure the average coexistence time under particular survival conditions. After a study of the theoretical foundations of 'single' and 'joint' life expectancy indicators, it is shown that joint life expectancy measures tend to enrich significantly the comparison of longevity achievements across countries and periods. Moreover, the introduction of joint life expectancy indicators—as a complement to conventional life expectancy measures—into multi-variable indexes such as the United Nations' HDI is also shown to affect international rankings of standards of living to a non negligible extent.