Giving Compass' Take:

• Shruti Godbole explains how countries are devising comprehensive measures of success to define their goals and direct their government programs. 

• How can philanthropy help to define and measure national success? 

• Learn how small changes can dramatically improve governance. 

Notions of being prosperous and developed are changing around the world. The concepts of Gross National Happiness and United Nations’ World Happiness Report are gradually gaining momentum. In his February 2018 budget speech, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also outlined his government’s priority on ensuring ‘ease of living’.

New Zealand is at the forefront of this issue, with plans to be one of the first countries in the world to measure its success against how it performs socially, culturally and environmentally.

It has taken six to seven years for New Zealand’s government to develop a living standards framework. The framework can be broadly understood in terms of four economic capitals – natural, social, financial, and physical. These capitals are meant to enhance intergenerational well-being. Emphasis is also being laid on ensuring a sustainable growth for these capitals, leading to overall growth in the economy. The Treasury has been tasked with listing the indicators and assessing the state of the four economic capitals. The government will then allocate a budget based on this assessment.

Until now, the definition of growth has been understood rather narrowly, mostly in terms of fiscal policy. India is now on the way to being self-sufficient in terms of hard infrastructure that traditionally signified growth. It now needs to consider cultural growth, as well as problems of health and education in terms of quality of education, stunted growth, malnutrition, obesity, etc.

Read the full article about measuring success by Shruti Godbole at Brookings.