Quality of life and economic convergence across Spanish regions, 1980-2001

This paper attempts to readdress the regional welfare issue by using alternative composite indicators in the context of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Indices. Evidence is presented regarding to what extent such alternative measures of living standards are converging. With this aim, a database for the Spanish regions ( NUTS II) was constructed for 1980-2001 and an augmented version of the Human Development Index (AHDI) was estimated incorporating sub-indices of health, education and the resources required for a decent standard of living, including an indicator of social exclusion. The regional convergence of three per-capita income measures, and the raw data of seven indicators of quality of life, were also studied. The empirical analysis suggests that whereas regional GVA per-capita disparities have remained constant, convergence was achieved in five quality-of-life indicators (AHDI, infant survival rate, adult literacy rate, mean schooling years, and 100 minus the rate of long- term unemployment) and in two alternative economic measures (total personal income less current grants and gross personal disposable income).