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Wellbeing economics in public policy: A distinctive Australasian contribution?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Paul Dalziel
Paul Dalziel*
Affiliation:
Lincoln University, New Zealand
*
Paul Dalziel, Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit, Lincoln University, PO Box 84, Lincoln University Post Office, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The ‘Wellbeing Budget’ presented to the New Zealand Parliament in 2019 was widely described as a world-first. This article explores the possibility of a distinctive Australasian contribution to our understanding of wellbeing economics in public policy. The introduction section presents an analytical wellbeing framework showing how human actions draw on services provided by the country’s capital stocks to create and sustain personal and communal wellbeing. The second section chronicles some landmark policy initiatives in Australia and New Zealand for understanding and monitoring wellbeing, culminating in the Wellbeing Budget. The third section highlights four areas for further development: (1) the role of family wellbeing in intergenerational wellbeing, (2) the role of cultural capital in providing foundations for future wellbeing, (3) the role of Indigenous worldviews in enriching understandings of wellbeing and (4) the role of market enterprise in expanding capabilities for wellbeing. These are all areas where Australasian researchers have demonstrated expertise.

Keywords

I31I38B54AustraliacapabilitiesNew Zealandwellbeingwellbeing budget
Type
Original Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 30 , Issue 4: Brexit Wellbeing and Safety , December 2019 , pp. 478 - 497
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2019

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