Measuring longevity achievements under welfare interdependencies: a case for joint life expectancy indicators |
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| Authors: | Gregory Ponthiere |
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| Institution: | (1) Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, CREPP and HEC, University of Liège, batiment B31, Sart-Tilman, Liège, 4000, Belgium |
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| Abstract: | 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.
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| Keywords: | Longevity Measurement Welfare interdependencies Joint life expectancy Standards of living |
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