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Sen’s Concept of the Living Standard applied to the Belgian Unemployed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2016

Erik Schokkaert  and
Luc Van Ootegem
Erik Schokkaert
Affiliation:
Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven
Luc Van Ootegem
Affiliation:
Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven
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Summary

We try to operationalise Sen’s concept of the living standard using questionnaire data on the economic situation of the Belgian unemployed. We use factor analysis to reduce the number of basic functionings and to avoid possible overlap between them. The factors obtained can be interpreted in a natural and transparent way : they refer to social isolation, general feeling of happiness, physical functioning, microsocial contact, degree of activity and financial situation. Factor scores on these functionings are related in a meaningful way to the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents.

Résumé

Résumé

Notre article vise à rendre opérationnel le concept de niveau de vie tel qu’il est avancé par Sen, en utilisant des données provenant de questionnaires sur la situation économique des chômeurs belges. L’analyse factorielle est utilisée pour réduire le nombre des “fonctionnements” fondamentaux et d’éviter les recoupements. Les éléments qui ressortent sont : les sentiments d’isolement, de bonheur, de forme physique, de contact micro-social, de degré d’activité et de situation financière. Les scores obtenus sur ces différents facteurs sont significativement reliés aux caractéristiques socio-économiques des personnes interrogées.

Keywords

024225910024225910
Type
Research Article
Information
Recherches Économiques de Louvain/ Louvain Economic Review , Volume 56 , Issue 3-4: A Special Issue in Honor of Professor A. Sen : Alternatives to Welfarism , 1990 , pp. 429 - 450
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de recherches économiques et sociales 1990 

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