DRU: Measurement of the Standard of Living Based on the Theory of Functionings: Southern California as a Natural Laboratory

生活水平的概念在过去20年左右的时间里受到了极大的关注。联合国每年出版的《人类发展报告》只是对这一问题日益感兴趣的一个例子。广义上讲，对生活水平的理解有两种非排他性的方法：一种是基于收入或消费的方法，另一种是基于营养、教育和健康等“真实的指标”的方法，也称为“功能”方法。这些方法都有其用途。 特别是诺贝尔经济学奖获得者A. Sen（1985，1987）和世界著名哲学家M. Nussbaum（1988），可以在评估发达国家和发展中国家生活质量的不同方面提供很大帮助。 该项目是一个多年期研究议程的第一步，其目的是根据功能理论衡量生活水平，并提供政策制定。我们的目标是处理南加州地区正在面临的生活质量问题，并将在不久的将来面临。预计在未来25年内，南加州内陆地区的人口将增长112%。这种快速增长将影响居民的生活质量，因为它将影响到高质量工作、教育和保健服务、交通和通信网络、空气和水的质量以及本地植物和动物物种的生存。虽然这可能被认为过于侧重于我们当地的关切，但我们要强调，该区域正在经历的问题具有普遍性。因此，南加州成为我们提出的次区域分析的天然实验室。 该项目有两个主要目标：（一）进一步的方法论见解的功能理论的发展;和（二）在南加州的生活水平的环境方面的数据收集。制定了一个创新概念“社会风险价值”，作为一个公共政策工具，为决策过程提供信息。为了实现我们的目标，我们将利用工程师，社会和自然科学家的多学科小组的专业知识。

The concept of the standard of living has received much attention over the last two decades or so. The Human Development Reports published annually by the United Nations is just one example of the growing interest in this subject. Broadly speaking, there are two non-exclusive approaches to the understanding of living standards: the approach based on income or consumption and the approach based on 'real indicators' such as nutrition, education, and health, which is also known as the 'functioning' approach. Each of these approaches has its use. In particular, the functioning approach, which has been put on a sound conceptual foundation by the works of Nobel laureate A. Sen (1985, 1987) and the world-renowned philosopher M. Nussbaum (1988), can be of considerable help in assessing the different dimensions of the quality of life in developed as well as developing countries. This project is the first step in a multiyear research agenda that aims to measure the standard of living based on the theory of functionings, and to provide policy formulations. We aim to deal with the issues of the quality of life that the region of Southern California is facing and will face in the near future. It is expected that in the next twenty-five years, the inland Southern California region will experience a 112 percent increase in population. This rapid growth will affect the quality of life of its residents because it will impact the supply of quality jobs, educational and health services, the transportation and communication networks, the air and water quality, and the survival of native plant and animal species. While this may be deemed too focused on our local concerns, we would like to stress that the problems that the region is experiencing are universal in nature. Therefore, Southern California emerges as a natural laboratory for the sub-regional analysis we propose. The project has two main objectives: (i) the development of further methodological insights to the theory of functionings; and (ii) data collection for the environmental dimension of living standards in Southern California. An innovative concept "Social Value-at-Risk" is devised as a public policy tool that will inform the decision-making process. To achieve our goals, we will draw on the expertise of a multi-disciplinary group of engineers, social, and natural scientists.