A Malmquist-Based Approach to Change in Local Economic Well-being

MURIAS P., NOVELLO S. and MARTINEZ-ROGET F. A Malmquist-based approach to change in local economic well-being, Regional Studies. The focus on the multifaceted nature of well-being has increased substantially in recent years. This paper employs data envelopment analysis (DEA) combined with the Malmquist index to examine the temporal change in the economic well-being of Spanish provinces over the ten-year period between 1996 and 2006. This method not only allows the aggregation of multiple indicators and the estimation of well-being shifts over time, but also shows the sources of variation in local economic wellbeing. The results seem to suggest that whilst economic well-being has improved in the great majority of provinces, this advancement stems largely from a more favourable environment than from the specific capacity of each province to reduce its relative distance from key benchmarks.