Additional resources for understanding the 3 conceptual approaches used in the Quality of Life chapter of the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi report.
Capability Approach
Theory
Amartya Sen, “Development as capability expansion,” Journal of Development Planning 19 (1989): 41–58. Link
Application
The Capability Approach to the Quality of Life, Working paper prepared for the Working Group "Quality of Life", Sabina Alkire, October 2008
Ingrid Robeyns, “The Capability Approach in Practice,” Journal of Political Philosophy 14, no. 3 (2006): 351-376. Link
Subjective well-being
NB It is important to distinguish between hedonic well-being (how good or bad you feel at any particular moment), and life-evaluation (how well people think their life is going), since these can point in different directions (e.g. with regard to activities like child-raising and work).
Theory:
Ruut Veenhoven (a leading happiness researcher based in the Erasmus Sociology department) The four qualities of life: Ordering concepts and measures of the good life Journal Of Happiness Studies, 2000, vol 1, pp 1-39 Link
(He also runs the World Database of Happiness.)
Fair Allocations
"The theory of fair allocations studies the allocation of resources among people with different tastes and
abilities, subject to a number of fairness criteria, such as “no-envy” (i.e. no agent should prefer another’s bundle),
“solidarity” (e.g. no agent should be hurt by an increase in available resources) and “lower-bounds” (e.g. no agent
should prefer the equal-split solutions)."
Theory
See e.g. H. Varian, “Equity, envy, and efficiency,” Journal of Economic Theory 9, no. 1 (1974): 63–91.Link
Application
See e.g. wok by Marc Fleurbaey (who also worked on the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi report).