Abstract
"The OECD has played a leadership role in the international efforts to measure well-being and progress. In 2011, the OECD launched the Better Life Initiative whose aim is to develop new and better indicators of well-being that can inform policymaking and help design better policies. Martine Durand's lecture will give an overview of the OECD Better Life Initiative, presenting selected results from the report How's Life? and the associated interactive web tool Your Better Life Index with a focus on how New Zealand compares with other OECD countries. The presentation will also outline the next steps envisaged for the Initiative, including policy uses of well-being indicators."
Bio
Martine Durand was appointed Director of Statistics and Chief Statistician of the OECD in 2010. Formally OECD Deputy-Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, she currently oversees all of the OECD's statistical activities and is responsible for providing strategic orientation for the Organisation's statistical policy. In this capacity, she is responsible for the OECD work on the measurement of well-being and the progress of societies, which is the underpinnings of the OECD Better Life Initiative and comprises the flagship report How's Life? Measuring Well-Being and the innovative web tool Your Better Life Index. She has authored and co-authored numerous articles and publications in the area of international competitiveness, labour markets, social policies and international migration. She graduated in mathematics, statistics and economics from the Paris VI University, Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Economique and the University of Wisconsin-Madison-USA.
Note: Papers, presentation slides and any other material provided by the Guest Lecturer will be made available some time after the lecture at Publications > Media & Speeches > Guest Lectures by Visiting Academics.