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This chapter compares the quality of life among 37 small island developing states (SIDS) based on Borda ranking rule. The data on 12 attributes of life for 2017 are used to rank the quality of life. These attributes of life cover not only the economic and physical indicators but also the institutional quality and political and civil liberties available to people. The results reveal that Barbados ranks first followed by Singapore on the ladder of quality of life. Most of Caribbean countries are in the top quintile of the quality of life ranking, whereas most pacific countries are in the fourth quintile. The performance of Haiti is the lowest and that of Guinea-Bissau the second lowest in the ranking of quality of life.

Based on interpersonal comparisons, a welfare loss measure of unemployment is developed. The proposed measure is additively decomposable which enables us to assess the group‐specific contribution to aggregate welfare cost. It possesses certain other desirable properties. It is sensitive to unemployment rate, mean duration of unemployment and the relative differences in the duration of unemployment. Since all these can vary differently over the years and across regions, the proposed measure is most suitable for comparing the welfare cost of unemployment over a period of time or across regions. An empirical exercise based on the Australian labour force survey data illustrates the usefulness and an easy applicability of the proposed measure.

The author assesses the performance of the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) in India which is among the world's most ambitious efforts aimed at alleviating rural poverty by providing income-generating assets (including working capital where necessary to the poorest of the poor). He shows that the performance of the IRDP varies from state to state and suggests how its performance can be enhanced by providing better marketing facilities in the rural areas. (DÜI-Sen)

Estimates a three‐equation model to test various economic hypotheses regarding the relationship between unemployment rate and defence spending in 18 OECD countries during the period 1962‐1988. Reveals that the relationship which exists between unemployment rate and defence spending is not uniform across countries. Defence spending has a favourable impact on unemployment rate in Germany and Australia, whereas in Denmark it worsens the employment situation. In Australia, Germany and Belgium, non‐defence spending and the unemployment rate are causally independent. Defence spending appears to act as a stablization tool in response to changes in the unemployment rate only in the UK. No significant causal relationship between unemployment rate and either type of spending is revealed in Japan, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Austria, New Zealand, Sweden, Canada and the USA. Observes a few cases of bi‐directional causality between unemployment rate and defence/non‐defence spending. Gives possible explanations for the observed cross‐country variability in causal relation.